Beastly
by BellaLovesEdward729
Summary: Masen had it all. Money... Good looks... until he pulls a prank on the wrong person and is turned ugly on the outside just as he is on the in. He has a year to find someone to love him for what's on the inside or he will stay that way forever. He begins to loose hope until he meets one girl... Bella Swan. But, can she learn to love him? For who could ever learn to love a beast?
1. Chapter 1

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* * *

I let out a grunt as I pulled myself up for the last time before letting go of the bar and hitting the floor. The music was blaring in the background while I walked over to the full-length mirror and inspected my body. My stomach was rock hard with a six-pack people would kill to have, my arms were sculpted to a medium build, and my legs had just the right amount of muscle. My body was just about perfect. But then again, I was a Masen, being perfect came with the name.

I'm Edward Masen Jr., but everyone called me Masen: quarterback of the football team, homecoming king three years in a row, newly elected senior-class president, and the most popular person in my school.

People _loved_ me.

And why wouldn't they?

My bronze-colored hair was tousled just right on top of my head, and my green eyes made girls around me melt. My father had always said what you look like is directly proportional to how much people like you.

And I was perfection.

After I gave myself one last look over, I winked at my reflection and moved to start my day. I chose my outfit, like I did every day, to make people want me more. It was incomprehensible to me how people could not care about how they looked. I watched kids at school show up in raggedy jeans and a worn-out hoodie, and they thought that was presentable.

Not me.

My father had always said to make sure you look your best because you never knew who would be watching, and it was something I lived by religiously. It didn't matter if I was going to one of my father's business meetings or to school, I always had the best clothes on.

I chose black slacks with a gray button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. I made sure my hair looked just the way I wanted, grabbed my $600 Gucci sunglasses, and was off.

School wasn't exciting for me. It was more of bore, a roadblock in the way of something bigger. But I still did everything in my power to make sure I was the best in the whole school, and I was. Not because I enjoyed it, but because I wanted to prove to everyone in that school that Edward Masen was it. There was no one better.

I hardly ever attended class; I didn't need to. I was smarter than half the teachers in that school, and they all knew it. I showed up to take my exams and hand in papers; there was no real reason other than that to be there. Some teachers tried to make a fuss about it when I was a freshman, but they had shut up real quick when my father donated money to add a third wing onto the school, and the ones that didn't… they were no longer employed at good old Seattle High.

I pulled into my regular parking spot at school, which was right up front next to the principal's parking space, and got out of my car. My midnight blue Audi R8 was my pride and joy. It was the best car in the entire school and the most expensive, of course. I sent my famous "panty-dropping" smile to all the girls around who smiled and waved— my way well, the ones who were lucky enough.

As I walked up the steps, I saw Jane Volturi standing by the doors, talking to her fellow cheerleaders. When she spotted me, she just about ran toward me. I had to hold back my laugh. She was so desperate.

"Masen," Jane purred as she stuck out her chest.

Sure, she had huge tits, but that was about the only good thing she had going for her.

"Jane."

"When are you going to take me up on my offer? We could be so good together. Tanya is yesterday's news," she whimpered as she ran her hands up my chest.

Tanya Denali was my girlfriend. She was exactly like me, only female. She was perfect in every way: from her strawberry blonde hair, to her perfectly round C-cup tits and her toned ass, all the way down to her manicured toenails. She was also the most flexible person I knew, and fuck if it didn't make for an amazing sex life.

"Jane, you know my answer. I'm sorry, sweetheart," I stated as I took her hand and kissed her knuckles.

Even though I was God's gift to women, I didn't cheat on my girlfriend. That was a big no in my book. If you wanted to sleep around, don't be in a relationship. My father always told me to treat your women well, buy her expensive gifts, and be faithful, and she'll love you completely for it.

I had done the sleeping around thing freshman through junior year. But it was the beginning of senior year, and I knew I had to have a woman who was equally hot as me on my arm. It had been time to grow up, and Tanya was the only choice.

Jane swooned as I kissed her hand. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my waist. "How about a quickie then? I'd rock your world"

I let out a chuckle and removed her arms from around my waist. "I don't think so. Besides, you know I only go for first string, not sloppy seconds."

Jane's jaw dropped in shock just as I moved around her and walked away. Jane had been around the block and had slept with almost every guy in our school. She was also second string on the cheerleading squad. Second string was one step up from not being on the team at all, and I'd be damned if I ever went out with someone so close to the bottom.

"Ladies," I said with a nod toward her group of friends who were listening in to the whole conversation.

I took my sunglasses off and entered the school. I acknowledged the people who mattered and ignored the people that didn't. It amazed me that after four years people still tried to talk to me, knowing I had no interesting talking to them.

"Masen!" I turned my head and saw my best friend James coming towards me.

James was the only guy at Seattle High that I could stand being around for more than ten minutes. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was green with envy over me. So was everyone else in the school, but James was the worst. He strived to do anything and everything better than me and always came up short. It sparked my interest that he constantly challenged me, even though he knew he would never win.

"Jane trying to get into your pants again?"

I stopped at my locker and opened it up. "Of course. You would think she would take a hint."

"Maybe I'll take her up on the offer. Remind her she's already had the best," James said with a smug smile.

I rolled my eyes as I put my sunglasses in my locker. James thrived on reminding me that he was a free man and could be with any girl at any time. Though he always seemed to have forgotten that I had already been with every girl he slept with. And for the few that I hadn't slept with, after they had been with him, they still begged to be with me. I was told a couple girls had even moaned my name while being with him, though he would never admit it.

Before I had a chance to respond, I heard my name being called out.

"Masen, baby!"

I turned around and saw my hot girlfriend running up just before she wrapped her arms around my neck and planted a passionate kiss on my lips. I moaned as I openly groped her ass over her very short skirt and leaned back into my locker.

I heard James groan beside me right before he said, "Dude, Masen, can I borrow her for just an hour?"

Tanya broke away from me and slapped James in the chest. "Gross, James!"

"No fucking way. You'd get her dirty," I responded with a smirk.

"I just wanted say hi, since I won't be able to see you later. I have practice all day so that I can make it to the party tonight," Tanya said with a pout, wrapping her arms around me again.

"Mm, you're coming over early though, right? We need to break in the new bed I just bought." I nipped at her lip, causing her to giggle.

"Of course! Bye, babe!"

I watched her perfect ass sway as she walked away and couldn't help but smirk at all the pathetic losers who watched as well. She was mine, and they could look all they wanted, but they couldn't have her.

"Not everyone wants to see you grope your girlfriend's ass, your highness," I heard a sarcastic voice say.

I turned around and saw the one person I couldn't stand to be near leaning against the wall before me. Victoria Nomad got on my nerves more than anyone else did in the entire school. She was weird and it freaked me out. Her fire-red hair was curled and teased so much; it looked like it belonged on a poodle instead of human being. She had a tattoo of vines on her face that started just above her right temple and went all the way down to her jaw, her lip and nose were pierced, and she always wore black or blood red.

That day, her clothes were black, a form-fitting dress that had a red, sparkly heart on her left shoulder, black heels with silver spikes on the back, and she was holding an umbrella.

It was a hideous ensemble.

I rolled my eyes and turned back toward my locker.

"Just because no one wants to grope your flat ass doesn't mean you speak for everyone around here, Vickie! I didn't hear anyone complaining."

I practically heard her jaw tense. She hated to be called Vickie.

"You really think all these people live for seeing how your life plays out? They don't."

I checked myself over in the mirror that was hanging from my locker, gave myself a wink, and closed it before I turned around to face her.

"Of course they do. And why wouldn't they? I'm rich, good-looking, and my life is twenty times more interesting than their lives will ever be. Why? Because all of their lives suck, and so does yours, so best embrace the suck."

It was then I noticed that a crowd had started to form to watch our little argument.

Victoria chuckled and shook her head. "Wow. Looks are important to you, aren't they?"

"They are important to everyone. Except for you, clearly," I responded with a smirk as I put my hands in my pockets.

Victoria gave me sickly sweet smile and moved to adjust the umbrella in her hand. It was then that I noticed the marker she held.

"I'm all about perfecting things that aren't right," she said before she turned on her heel and walked away.

My eyes went wide when I saw the poster that had been obscured by behind her back. It was my winning poster for class president, covered in red marker. There were horns on my head along with a mustache and beard and a red pitchfork on the side of me. On the bottom, it read "DON'T EMBRACE THIS SUCK."

I walked up to the poster and ripped it down while I stared at her retreating form down the hall. That was when I noticed all of my posters that hung down the hallway had been drawn on. I was pissed. I could hear snickers and quiet laughs all around me, and it only pissed me off more.

"I'm going to get that bitch," I mumbled as I balled the poster up in my hand.

"I wouldn't, dude," James said as he walked up to me.

I snapped my head toward him and looked at him like he was crazy. "Why the hell not?"

"Steer clear of the witch. You don't know what kind of shit she'll do to you."

I snorted. Of course I had heard the rumors just like everyone else had. Victoria was known as "the witch" in our school. There had been many unexplained events that had happened whenever someone did something to Victoria or did something she didn't like. I didn't believe one word of it.

"We'll see. That freak is in for a rude awakening."

* * *

I waited patiently outside of the art studio. The bell to let school out would ring any second, and then my plan would be in motion. I smiled to myself. It was a genius plan and it would go off very nicely.

The school bell rang and brought me out of my thoughts. I quickly stood up straight and looked through the crowd of kids coming out of the classroom for the person I was looking for. My brows went together in confusion when I didn't see her and found the classroom empty.

I let out a huff and decided to look outside for her.

I turned around and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Victoria standing behind me with a blank expression.

"Whoa. Didn't see you there," I said with a little smile as I tried to calm my heart. She raised her eyebrow at me, and I took that as my cue to continue. "I wanted to talk to you."

Victoria still stayed silent with an unreadable expression on her face.

I cleared my throat. "I've been doing a lot of thinking…about what you said…and all the times you called me selfish and shallow and…you're right."

Her expression still didn't change.

"It's how I was raised," I mumbled as I looked to the floor. "But I don't want to be that way anymore."

I looked up when I heard her start to chuckle. I had to refrain from growling.

"Do you honestly think I believe you?" she asked before she turned to walk away.

"Believe what you want," I called out, following her.

"Is bullshit one word or two?" she asked with a smirk.

"It's the truth!" I cried out. "I want you to help me."

That made her stop.

She looked me over, skeptical, but she looked like she had started to believe me.

"Come to my dad's work benefit with me tonight. Almost everyone from school will be there with their parents. We can talk about everything, and you can help me start to change."

"I can help you. But you have to be willing."

I nodded my head. "I'm willing. I'm more than willing. I don't want to be this way anymore."

The right side of Victoria's mouth went up. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I'll play along. Besides, you've heard what people say about me, right?"

"Vicious gossip," I stated with a nod.

Victoria smiled.

"And only idiots mess with witches...careful now," she sing-songed before she turned and walked down the hallway.

I watched her walk down the hall and couldn't hide the smirk on my face.

"Dude, were you just talking to the witch?" James asked as he walked up.

"Yes, I was," I answered. "And the witch was just put under a spell."

* * *

I walked into the banquet hall and looked around. It was packed with hundreds of people, but the thing that caught everyone's eye was the huge poster of my father holding a globe in his hands that hung from the ceiling. My father was a good-looking man with his black hair, average build, and height at about six feet.

We looked _nothing_ alike.

I got all of my looks from my mother. At least, that's what my father had told me. I really couldn't remember much of her. She had died when I was seven.

I had no idea why I couldn't remember her. I had been old enough when she died, but it was almost like she had died when I was a baby.

One of the few things I had been able to remember were the sounds of a song played on a piano when I would lie down to go to sleep. I tried to replay it myself on my piano millions of times, but it never came out right.

My dad's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Junior, my boy! Come here! I want you to meet the mayor."

I walked over to my father and buttoned my silver suit jacket. When I approached them, I stuck out my right hand that featured my black and chrome Guess watch to give the mayor a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," I said politely.

"Junior here is quarterback of the football team and president of his class. Has a cute little girlfriend, one who makes you wish you were seventeen again, if you catch my drift," my dad told the mayor with an eyebrow raised.

I tried to hide my disgust. My father would always hit on Tanya and had constantly made his thoughts about her known. I hated it and thought it was sick. Tanya, of course, loved every second of it. I swear she spent more time with my father than with me when she would come to my house. It wasn't that I was jealous; I had nothing to be jealous of. Tanya was mine, and she would never be stupid enough to cheat on me or leave me for someone else. But more importantly, it was because Edward Masen _didn't_ get jealous; it was just the fact that he was my _father_. It was sick.

"Oh, yeah? Which one would that be?" the mayor asked, his interest piqued.

I rolled my eyes as my dad pointed Tanya out. She had been dancing on the dance floor with her friends and would throw me a sexy smile whenever she looked over. She was wearing a red, short-sleeved dress that came down to mid-thigh with a black belt and matching red high heels.

I couldn't wait to take her back to my house.

I stood there and listened as my father went on and on about my grades and my looks. The only time he had ever praised anything I had done was when he was explaining it to someone important. The mayor seemed impressed, even though his eyes never left Tanya on the dance floor.

"Son, the reason I called you over is because the mayor here wants me to take a trip with him next weekend to Aspen, and we want you to come."

My head snapped toward my father. "Dad, next weekend is my presidential inauguration."

"Right!" My dad stated. "Looks like it's just us then, Bob. Junior here can't miss that, being the president and all."

I looked at him in complete shock. I wanted to remind him that he said he would be there, but I knew better than to bring up such things in front of someone so important.

"Damn. Was really looking forward to you bringing your little girlfriend there," the mayor responded as he motioned toward Tanya with his glass.

"Next time, Bob. I promise."

I walked away before I ended up saying something I knew I'd regret. I grabbed myself a drink from a waiter and headed outside. The benefit was in full swing with all of the adults inside and all of the teenagers out.

I sat on the ledge of the fountain and took another sip of my drink. The only reason any of us went to our parents' work parties was because of the alcohol. Mostly all of our parents worked for the same company, with my father being the most senior of them all, so it didn't matter that they dragged us along.

I looked back at my group of friends and laughed at a story they had been telling when I saw her. Right by the entrance, dressed in a black and white skintight, lace-up dress with matching stockings and white and black striped heels stood Victoria. She had a small smile on her face, and I couldn't help but laugh.

Everyone looked over at me, confused, and I laughed harder.

"Wow!" I said as I stood up. "You actually bought it. You _actually_ came. This is great!"

Victoria's smile never faltered though. I made my way toward her. By then, everyone's attention was on me.

"I'm sorry; this is an invitation-only party. You need to be on the list to get in. Or you can try using your looks? Maybe that will help you get in. Alec!" I called out to the kid who stood next to Victoria at the podium. "Can Vickie here get in based on her looks?"

Alec looked back and forth between Victoria and me. He looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

"You... you need to be on the list," Alec stammered.

I clapped my hands in front of me. "Well, looks like you got your answer."

The crowd started to laugh as I stood there smirking at Victoria. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and basked in my victory.

She had humiliated me with what she had done with my posters, and I had been successful in humiliating her in front of ninety percent of the school.

It felt great.

"I only came here to give you one final chance." Victoria stated softly.

I laughed again. Who was she kidding? She bought it all.

"Well, thanks, but no thanks, beastly. Now move it along before we have to call the pound."

Victoria nodded her head once and turned around to walk out. I looked over at my group of friends and laughed with them.

"Oh and, Masen?"

I turned to see Victoria still standing there.

"Best embrace the suck!" she exclaimed before she turned on her heel and walked away.

I scrunched my brows together in confusion when I felt a gust of wind hit my face but shook it off and continued to laugh with everyone else.

"Baby, that was hilarious!" Tanya laughed as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

I gave her a quick kiss and smiled over at James, who had been looking at me skeptically.

"Steer clear of the witch, huh? When are you going to stop believing in bullshit?" I asked him with a laugh.

James forced out a laugh and shook his head.

"Let's go drink!" I announced loudly, causing everyone to clap and cheer.

* * *

The night moved on rather quickly, and I had been having a great time. My father only talked to me when he felt it was necessary to play the "proud father" role in front of someone, though I never in my life had heard the words "I'm proud of you" come out of his mouth.

Tanya had gotten pretty drunk and had been all over me while every guy and girl in the room got sick with envy.

Around nine o'clock, my head started to hurt. I chalked it up to just a minor headache and ignored it. But at ten thirty, I couldn't ignore it any longer.

My head was pounding and my eyes wouldn't focus. I pinched the bridge of my nose to try and calm myself down, but it didn't work. I had started to sweat and had to take my jacket off. I stumbled over to a pillar and leaned against it. I felt dizzy and was worried I might faint. I looked down at my glass and saw that it was still half-full. I had only had two drinks, so I couldn't have been drunk. Panic started to race through me at the thought that someone might have put something in my drink.

"Masen, baby! Come dance with me!" Tanya yelled over the music.

"I'm not feeling very well, Tanya," I responded, but she either didn't hear me or completely ignored me, because she grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the dance floor anyway.

Tanya grinded up against me, but I wasn't paying any attention. Sweat had started to drip from my brow, and the lights that were flashing on the dance floor turned into bright flashes that blinded me. The noises seemed louder than they should have been, and people's faces almost seemed to look distorted. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Dude, you don't look so good. Are you okay?" someone asked me.

I looked up and noticed a group of people staring at me. All of their voices seemed to speak at once, and it made me feel even worse. I put my hands on my head and tried to breathe. It didn't work. I knew I was going to pass out. I immediately took off and headed toward the fire door. I would be damned if I passed out in front of a group of people and embarrassed myself like that. My father wouldn't have it either. Luckily, no one followed me.

I had no idea where I was going, but the first door I saw, I ran through, which led me to the back of the building. I looked around. There were windows looking into the party but it was behind the stage and the DJ, so no one was paying attention. I put my head in my hands again and willed the pain to go away. I couldn't explain what I was feeling; it felt like I had been drugged. I briefly considered calling an ambulance before I heard a noise behind me.

I turned around, and through the fog that covered my eyes, I saw Victoria. She was standing there in the same dress she had been wearing earlier in the night and her lips were moving.

"Victoria?" I breathed out in pain.

"Looks are so important to you," she murmured as she walked over to me. "Imagine life without them."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You've spent your life worrying about how you look and treating all of the '_beastly'_ people out there like garbage."

"It was a joke!" I cried out in panic.

Victoria tilted her head to the side and said, "I didn't get it. But you will."

Black spots had started to cloud my eyes. "Get what?"

Victoria put her hand on my shoulder. "You have a year from today to find someone to love you."

I watched as her hand trailed down my arm to my hands, and that was when I noticed the streaks. Dark black streaks, along with red scars that were swollen, started to form on my hands. I pushed the sleeves up on my shirt and noticed the marks went all the way up my arm. I looked up at Victoria, terrified.

"When the clock strikes four a year from now, your time is up…or stay like this forever," she whispered with a smile.

Before I had a chance to ask her what she was talking about, she stepped out of the way and a reflection in the glass walls caught my eye. The person in the reflection was hideous. All of their hair was gone, and their face was covered in black streaks that looked like vines and scars. All of the scars were swollen and red, but one looked worse than the others. It went from the forehead all the way down to the collarbone. It didn't even look fully healed. It was split open and red with flesh. The black vines went down the neck and looked to be hidden underneath the shirt. It was then that I realized that the person in the reflection was wearing my clothes.

My heart started to race as I took a step closer to examine the reflection more closely. I almost fainted. The person in the reflection wasn't a stranger; the person in the reflection was me.

"No…no!" I shouted as I ripped open my shirt, only to reveal more black vines and more scars.

"You are ugly now," Victoria whispered. "Just like you are on the inside, where it matters most... _you_ are beastly."

I fell to my knees and started to sob.

* * *

**I really hope you guys enjoy this! Sorry for the delay, I had them all written then I lost all my chapters :( Sucks majorly! But I'm back on track now!**

**As you know if you read my previous story... Anyone who reviews gets a teaser because I like to give presents :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**you guys are the reason why i love to write. you just blow me away. thank you from the bottom of my heart. **

**Big thanks to Mollie & Lisa who edit this before you guys see it! My story would be just a bunch of words without them!**

**Thank you to April who validates my Chapters on Twilighted! You rock chick!**

****wouldn't we all be happy if we owned Edward? ::sigh:: but we don't :(****

* * *

I ran all the way home.

There was no fucking way I was getting in my limo and chancing anyone seeing my face, even our driver.

I had tried to look for Victoria, but it was as if she vanished into thin air.

So I ran.

I stuck to the shadows and covered my face with my hands. I snuck into our building through the back and finally let out a breath of relief when I reached the security of my own home.

However, the relief soon vanished when I saw my reflection in the mirror.

I was hideous.

I tried to run from the mirror, but around every corner there was a new one. My father believed in always looking your best, and with a mirror at every turn, you would always be able to check your reflection.

But for the first moment in my life, I didn't _want_ to check how I looked.

I didn't _want_ to see my reflection.

So I smashed every single one of them.

It wasn't until after midnight when my father finally showed up. I was sitting on the ground with my knees pulled up to my chest, my hands were covered in blood and shaking, and I was panting when I heard his keys in the door.

I turned my head at the sound of the glass crunching under his shoe and took a deep breath.

"What the…. Junior!" he yelled out as his arm went for the light switch.

"Don't turn on the light!" I shouted as I shot up.

"What's going on here? What happened? Are you hurt?"

I let out a dry laugh and put my forehead on the wall. He had no idea how ironic that question was.

"Dad…?" I started but stopped when I choked back a sob.

"Junior, I'm going to turn on the lights…"

"No!" I shouted again.

I squeezed my eyes shut before I lifted my head up.

"Why do you love me?"

My father's face turned confused.

"What the hell kind of question is that?"

"Just answer!"

"Because you're my son!" he answered back with such conviction that I believed him.

I breathed out a sigh of relief and put my forehead back against the wall. After a couple more seconds of silence, I finally told my father to turn on the lights.

I blinked at the brightness and watched as my father jumped back in fear when his eyes focused on me.

The look of horror and disgust on his face was one I would never forget.

* * *

I clenched my jaw as I stared at my computer screen. It had been almost a month since it happened, and there had been no change.

My father had tried to find Victoria, but it was almost as if she never existed.

The school had no record of her, and the only address we could find turned out to be an old warehouse in the poor part of the city.

She just fucking vanished.

When the plan of finding Victoria had been unsuccessful, my father had turned to doctors.

I had seen more doctors in the past three weeks than I had in my entire life. They were all top-notch physicians who had all won awards and made billions of dollars by just writing a letter, my father insisted.

But it didn't matter; they all said the same thing.

_Nothing wrong._

_There is nothing I can do._

_He is completely healthy._

To which my father would respond in an enraged voice, "Does he look completely healthy to you?"

But he still insisted on seeing more.

"Junior! It's time to go!" I heard my father yell from downstairs, and I let out a sigh.

I turned off the torture device and stood up. Not only had we not found a solution, but I also realized one very important fact about all the people I had considered my friends.

They all _hated_ me.

All of them had posted shit on their Facebook pages about how happy they were that I had left and how much they couldn't stand me.

And how the rumor was that I had overdosed and had been thrown into a rehab center… One guy even claimed that he had seen me go into a seizure and was the one who had called the ambulance.

Fuck that.

Besides their lies and shit-talking, none of them attempted to contact me in the weeks that had passed.

Not even Tanya…and she was my _girlfriend._

I mean, it wasn't like I thought we were in love or some shit, but I cared for her— and had thought she cared about me. Well, cared enough that after a couple days if I hadn't heard from her, I would have at least tried to fucking contact her.

But I got nothing.

I looked at the gray zip-up hoodie laying on my bed before I put it on. When my father first brought it home weeks ago, I had looked at him in disgust. He explained that the hood might help shield my face from others to see.

I wore it every day.

With it I usually had on my black and white Chucks, a pair of faded black jeans, and whatever t-shirt was laying around.

It was so different from the designer clothes I used to wear.

I put the hood up and made my way down the steps.

I missed my old life.

I missed going to parties instead of going to the doctor's.

I missed looking in the mirror and knowing I had the looks that could make any girl's panties drop instead of avoiding anything with a reflection.

I could feel the depression start to seep into me as each day passed, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

I listened as my father rattled on about how the doctor we were going to meet would be different. I heard the same speech each time, so I just stared out the window into the night without making a comment.

I should have known my father had something up his sleeve when he slipped the security guard some cash, but I barely paid attention to anything anymore. I just kept my head down and my face covered by the hood's shadow so he wouldn't see my face.

I barely even acknowledged the doctor when we went into his office and just played with a loose piece of string on the bottom of my zip-up as he and my father had their discussion.

But when I heard the doctor say the word "danger," I looked up.

"And you understand that I will need that in writing?" the doctor asked my father.

He nodded.

"Of course, Dr. Jenks, we'll both sign whatever you need."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Dr. Jenks' eyes moved over to me before they flashed back over to my father.

"Yes. He doesn't want to look like this. We'll risk anything."

My head snapped over toward my father in shock.

_Risk anything?_

It wasn't until he realized that Dr. Jenks wasn't going to continue that my father finally looked over at me.

"What?" he asked completely confused.

I let out a huff before I stood and ran out of the room.

I couldn't believe him. Not _once_ did he ask me my opinion on the matter, and to be willing to risk _anything_…Fuck that.

I heard my father yelling my name as I ran, but I didn't stop. I was so pissed off I knew that if he came near me and said another thing that pissed me off, I probably would have punched him.

I ran down into the parking garage but stopped when I realized I had nowhere else to go. I wasn't calling a cab, and I sure as hell wasn't walking outside where people could see me.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? Dr. Jenks is willing to help us! I thought that was what you wanted?"

"But we'd risk _anything_?" I asked him.

"Of course! You can't look like this forever!"

I looked at him in complete shock. It was in that moment that I realized my father's true intentions. He didn't care what happened to me in the long run as long as I didn't look the way I did for the rest of my life.

"Even if that risk is my own life?!" I shouted as I clenched my fists.

My father rolled his eyes.

"That's not what he meant, Junior."

"It's exactly what he meant, Dad!"

My father pinched the bridge of his nose before he let out a huff and took out his cell phone.

"Please explain to Dr. Jenks something came up, and we will set up another appointment soon."

He hung up the phone and took out his keys.

"I don't want to see him again, Dad. We'll find another way," I stated firmly.

My father just rolled his eyes again and told me to get into the car.

We drove in silence and I welcomed it. I couldn't believe my own father was willing to risk my life so that I could look good. I didn't want to look the way I did any more than he did, but to risk my life?

Fuck that.

My thoughts were stopped by a noise. It took me a minute to realize that the noise had been my phone. I scrambled to get it out of my pocket.

Someone was trying to get ahold of me.

My shoulders sagged when I saw it was a text from my cousin Alice. I let out a sigh and opened the message.

She was always sending me random texts, Facebook messages, and would call on occasion. Sometimes I would answer, but most of the time I just ignored them.

I used to see her on the holidays when she and her family would come to visit, but that hadn't happened in about two years since my father decided that he would rather we spend the holidays in another country than with our family.

My brows went together in confusion when I read her text.

_Hey Cuz! Mom tells us you're coming to stay with us for a while! I'm so excited! It's going to be just like when we were younger, I can't wait! Love you!_

My jaw clenched before I finally spoke.

"I just got an interesting message"

I watched as my father rolled his eyes. "People are going to talk, Junior. Just ignore them and don't answer, and when everything is back to normal, we will come up with some sort of explanation."

I hadn't been back to school since the day that it happened, my father had a doctor give me an extended leave of absence for no real reason…The power of money really had no boundaries.

"It's from Alice."

My father tensed and I let out a dry laugh.

He sighed.

"It's just for a little while."

"Why do I have to go to Forks?"

"I have to get back to work…"

"So you're shipping me away?" I asked.

"You know I have colleagues come over throughout the week; you don't want them to see you do you?"

"You mean _you_ don't want them to see me!" I cried out.

He let out another sigh and shook his head.

"It'll be good for you to get away until we can find a solution to all of this."

"I don't want them to see me like this!"

He rolled his eyes.

"I explained to them everything that is going on…"

"You _told_ them?" I cried out.

"Of course I did!" he stated in a firm voice. "I had to warn them, didn't I?"

I completely ignored his comment for fear I would explode.

"They are family, Junior. They understand. Maybe Carlisle can even help"

"Dad, I don't want to go to Forks! I want to stay at home with you!"

I was aware I sounded like a child, but I didn't care.

"I'm not just going to leave you there"

I looked at him warily.

"You'll visit?"

My father looked over at me before looking back at the road. "Of course."

"When?" I challenged.

"On the weekends…" he started. "When I don't have work…I'll drive down."

I continued to stare at him until he looked back over at me and assured me again that he would. I eventually let out a sigh and asked him when I was going.

My eyes went wide when he answered with, "Tomorrow."

* * *

I looked out the car window with disgust. The trees and ground were wet and not a hint of sunshine in the sky. It was like there was a permanent state of fog that covered the town.

Forks, Washington was under a constant cover of clouds and rain and had a total population of 3,120 people.

This was where my aunt Esme lived with her husband, my uncle Carlisle, and their two children.

I used to visit almost every summer…but it had been years.

Esme was the older sister of my mother and was probably one of the kindest, sweetest people you could ever meet. There wasn't a mean bone in her body.

Which was surprising considering all she had been through.

From what I could remember of the story my father had told me, right out of high school, Esme married her high school sweetheart, and almost right after that, she became pregnant.

For most young women, that would have been a burden. But not for Esme. My father always said Esme was born to be a wife and mother, and she loved every second of it. So when she found out that she was pregnant with my cousin, Henry, she immediately went into the baby planning.

Nine months later, baby Henry was born and my aunt was the happiest she had ever been. She lived and breathed for her child. Not once did she complain about late night feedings, early morning wake-ups, or the hours of crying he would do.

But one night she had woken with a bad feeling and went into Henry's room to check on him only to find that he wasn't breathing. Esme and her husband rushed him to the hospital, but it had been too late.

At the age of four months, Henry had died of SIDS.

It had been no one's fault, but that didn't lessen the pain.

My father said after that, the light in Esme had gone out and she had never been the same. Her husband started to drink to numb the pain and then started to take his anger out on her. He started to beat her two months after the baby's death.

Everyone in our family, including my mother and father, begged her to leave him but she refused. Eventually, she had even stopped taking their phone calls.

Then one night things got extremely bad. Esme's husband had been drinking all day and went on one of his rampages. He had beaten her so badly that he had broken her eye socket, fractured her ribs, and caused internal bleeding.

Instead of going to the hospital when he had finally passed out from exhaustion like she should have, Esme had gone down to the cliffs. She went to the highest cliff and jumped with the hope that she would end all of her pain.

Luckily, a fisherman had spotted her and was able to locate her in the dark water. He gave her CPR before he rushed her to the hospital. If it had been a couple of minutes later, she wouldn't have made it.

That was where she met my uncle Carlisle.

He was an intern and assigned to her. The two had become close throughout her time at the hospital, and he had been the one who convinced her to press charges against her husband and file for divorce.

One year later, they were married.

However, it wasn't all happy after that. Soon after they had first gotten together, Esme found out that she could no longer have children of her own due to the internal damage she sustained from the beatings.

My father explained she had started to slip back into her depression, but Carlisle pulled her through it and reassured her that they could always adopt.

Which is exactly what they did.

Esme and Carlisle adopted my cousin, Emmett, when he was five years old. Esme had always said that the moment she laid eyes on Emmett, she knew he was her son. She had met many children, but Emmett called out to her the most, and that was before she heard his story.

From the time of his birth until the age of four, Emmett watched his father beat on his mother on a daily basis, until he finally beat her to death.

Emmett saw the whole thing.

This in turn made him a very angry child.

No family could handle him. They would fall in love with his dimpled smile and beautiful eyes immediately, but before he could even settle in, they were returning him. His longest stay had been two and a half weeks.

Esme and Carlisle put up with many fights, freak-outs, and violent behavior, but not once had they ever considered returning him. To them, he was their son.

Emmett started to eventually calm down once he realized they weren't going to give him back, and a year after the adoption, he was a completely different child.

Six months after that, Carlisle was made the chief of medicine of the hospital, and one night when he had gone in for his regular shift, he was told that a little girl had been left on the front steps.

She was tiny for her age, which at the time had been four years old, and left with nothing but a teddy bear with one arm, the clothes on her back, a blanket wrapped around her, and a note.

_Her name is Mary Alice. Please find someone who can love her the way she deserves. _

Carlisle fell in love in that instant and started the paperwork to take her home the next morning. No surprise, Esme loved her as well and wanted nothing more than to have the little girl as her own.

They had been concerned that, with his abandonment issues, Emmett would start to act up again. But the complete opposite had happened.

Emmett had become Alice's ultimate protector.

He did anything and everything she wanted, watched over her, fed her, and when she would cry, he would try everything in his power to make her stop, and if he couldn't, he would get a look of complete anguish on his face.

One night, Esme awoke to find that Emmett wasn't in his bed. At first, she panicked and raced around the house to look for him.

When she had found him, she cried tears of joy.

Emmett had taken the pillow and blanket from his own bed and had gone into Alice's room to lie at the bottom of her bed on the floor to watch over her.

Esme tried to explain to him that there was no need for him to sleep on the floor, that they would leave both of their doors open so he could hear into Alice's room, but that didn't stop him.

And for years after that, Esme would awaken to find Emmett in the same exact spot at the end of Alice's bed on the floor.

"We're here," my father announced, taking me out of my thoughts.

I took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. The front door opened and my aunt rushed out with my uncle behind her. I was engulfed in her arms seconds later, and I couldn't deny the overwhelming sense of calm I felt in that moment.

"I'm so happy you're here!" she whispered happily into my ear.

I squeezed my eyes shut and basked in that happiness for as long as I could, because I knew once she saw my face, it wouldn't be there anymore.

She began to pull away, and I braced myself for the look of horror that would cross her face like it had everyone else's once they got a good look at me…but it never came.

Her eyes shined with tears and a hint of sadness as she cupped my face.

"You have your mother's eyes," she said with a small smile.

I swallowed the lump in my throat at the mention of my mother and gave a short nod. She gave me a kiss on the cheek before she turned toward my uncle, who was talking to my father.

"Carlisle! Come over here and say hello to your nephew! Look how tall he has gotten!"

I chuckled and shook my head. She wasn't lying. The last time I had seen her, I had been about the height of her shoulders. Now I towered over her.

My uncle walked up to me, and he had the same expression as my aunt. He showed no sign of horror and looked at me as if I was just a normal person.

He stuck his hand out for a handshake, and I began to wonder if my aunt and uncle had lost their minds in the years since I had last seen them.

I shook his hand as he asked, "How are you doing, Masen?"

I lifted my eyes up at him, which caused him to chuckle and nod his head.

"Dumb question I guess."

We both exchanged a laugh, and I couldn't believe how easy it all felt. In the five minutes I had been there, the Cullens had made me feel almost normal again.

I opened my mouth to answer him but a shrieking sound from the house stopped me. Before I could even figure out what the sound was, I was attacked.

A short, black-haired, pixie missile launched herself at me and wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

"I can't believe you're actually here!" she screamed so loud, I thought my eardrums were about to explode.

I looked over at the adults for help, but all three of them just stood there and laughed. Carlisle finally decided to show me mercy and put a hand on his daughter's back.

"Alice, let your cousin go so we can get him in and settled."

She let out a huff and finally jumped down. Once her feet hit the ground, her smile disappeared and a look of anger showed on her face. My eyes went wide and I began to get scared.

Alice might have been a small little thing, but she was fucking scary.

She pulled her arm back and hit me hard as shit in my arm.

"You never answer me anymore! I constantly text and write you on Facebook, and I never get a response!" she cried out as she put her hands on her hips.

I rubbed my arm and looked at her like she was crazy. She too showed no reaction to how I looked and treated me as if nothing was different.

My family had definitely gone crazy.

Alice lifted her eyebrows in question, and I just coughed and shrugged my shoulders in response. Her face melted back in a smile and she shook her head.

"Come on! I'll show you your room!" she squealed before she turned and headed for the house.

I watched in shock as she skipped her way up the front steps. She had on a long-sleeved, black shirt, a hot pink miniskirt with matching heels, and she fucking _skipped_ up the steps.

How women did that was beyond me.

I turned to grab my bags but my aunt and uncle waved me off. I tried to argue but was pulled toward the house by Alice, who had come back to get me since I was "taking too long."

She babbled the entire time as we walked into the house, but I didn't really pay attention. I looked around at my surroundings. The house hadn't really changed much, just some new furniture and upgraded devices.

"He's Rosalie's, Emmett's girlfriend, twin brother. He's so amazing! I love him so much! You can meet him tonight and Rose too. She's a little rough around the edges, but you get used to her. Oh! And Bella…you met her a couple times when we were younger but you'll meet her again…."

I stopped looking around and cut her off. "Alice, I'm not meeting anybody."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to meet anyone. I don't want anyone to see me like this."

Alice rolled her eyes. "They aren't going to care what you look like…"

"I said no!" I stated firmly.

Alice snapped her mouth shut and her eyes went wide. I looked around to see everyone looking at us. Esme had a sad smile on her face, Carlisle had his hands in his pockets with a blank expression, while my father took out his Blackberry and began to mess around with it.

"I'll just go make some lunch," Alice whispered in a sad voice.

She looked to the ground before she turned and walked out of the room. I let out a sigh and went to go run my hand through my hair, only to become more frustrated when I remembered I had none.

I looked up to see my uncle still staring at me.

"What?" I snapped at him.

Esme followed Alice into the kitchen, and my uncle just shook his head.

"Let me show you to your room."

I opened my mouth to respond but was cut off by a voice behind me.

"I'll show him."

I turned and saw what only could be described as a human bear standing at the bottom of the stairs. My cousin Emmett had filled out in the years since I'd seen him. He stood there in black boots, blue jeans, and a long-sleeved, dark gray wool shirt. There was no doubt he was taller than me, and it looked like he had small tree trunks where his arms should have been.

He stared at me with a hard look before he motioned with his head to the stairs. I let out another sigh, grabbed one of my bags, and followed him.

As I walked up the steps, I stopped to look at the pictures that hung on the wall. Most were of my cousins when they were younger and some school photos from throughout the years. I had been shocked to find some of me as well, but also a recent one of me.

The school had taken my graduation photo the year before for my senior year, and I assumed my father had sent them a copy. I stared at my face and felt the all too familiar feeling of longing. The picture was perfect and I looked great. I wanted to look that way again, more than anything else in the world.

I saw out of the corner of my eye Emmett standing at the top of the stairs before I continued up them. I followed him down the hallway into an open door.

"This is your room. Alice's room and mine are across the hall, and the bathroom is two doors down. Mom and Dad are in the other wing of the house."

I nodded and put my bag down on the bed. I looked around at my surroundings. The room was smaller than my room back at home, but at least it had a balcony.

"Sorry if it's not up to your standards, _Masen_. But you'll just have to deal with it," Emmett sneered.

"Do you have some sort of beef with me or something?" I asked as I turned toward him.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway.

"Would it matter if I did?"

"Nope," I replied and turned to open my bag.

Emmett snorted. "Figures."

"What the hell is your problem?"

He clenched his jaw. "You want to know what my problem is? It's you. You're my problem. We haven't seen you or spoken to you in years, and the first time we do, you make my little sister cry. What the fuck kind of shit is that?"

I turned my head so he wouldn't see the guilt in my eyes. I felt shitty about making Alice cry; I hadn't meant to.

"I'm going through some shit right now, Em. So excuse me if I don't want to me new people."

"Typical Masen, always caring more about your looks then your family."

I clenched my jaw and looked down at my bag.

"When are you going to realize that we don't give a shit how you look? You're family. How you look doesn't matter. What does matter is you hurting my sister."

"I didn't mean to snap at her!" I cried out. "I'll fucking apologize."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

I looked at him confused as he leaned off the doorframe and took a step closer.

"Dude, we all use to be like best friends. You, Alice, and me…we were fucking inseparable. Then you just fucking stopped coming around."

I shook my head and turned back to my bag. "Whatever, man. My mom had just fucking died; I don't need to explain myself."

"And you don't think we got that? Fuck, we all loved your mom. But you just stopped coming around. Then just stopped calling…You use to at least give some lame-ass excuse as to why you weren't coming to visit, but then somewhere down the line you decided we weren't even worth giving an excuse to anymore. Me? I learned to deal with it… But Alice? She never gave up on you, and every time you ignored her, I was the one who saw how upset she got. Then we see you on the holidays and you're this completely different person. You only cared about how you looked and treated us like you were better than us. Now the first time you've seen her in _four_ years, and you make her cry? What the fuck?"

I listened to his speech and was surprised to find that I actually felt bad. I had no idea that the way I had acted had affected them that much.

"What do you want me to say?"

Emmett shook his head. "Don't say anything. Get your shit together, Masen. And try and remember that we're _family_. Not some random people on the fucking street."

Then he turned and walked out of the room.

* * *

Two hours later, I poked my head out of my door. My father had left as soon as he could with the promise he would be back to visit that weekend and I just stayed upstairs. Alice had knocked on my door and told me lunch was ready, but I just ignored her. I wasn't ready to face her yet.

But I couldn't stand sitting in that room for one more second, so I decided to explore. The last time I had been there, the wing of the house where my room was just being built, so I'd never seen it.

Like Emmett had said, his and Alice's rooms were across from mine and right next to each other. Two other doors were also in the hall. One led to the bathroom, and another led to an empty room filled with boxes. I closed the door to the empty room and turned to go back to my room when I saw there was another hallway with one more door at the end. I walked up to it and opened it to see another set of stairs.

I walked up the steps and looked around. The room looked like a small apartment. The room was filled with boxes; a couch was in one corner and a small kitchen table in another. There were two more doors that were open, one led to a bedroom and the other to a bathroom. I had just been walking out of the bedroom when I heard my aunt's voice call out to me.

I waked to the top of the steps to see her at the door.

"Sweetie, what are you doing up there?"

"What is that place?" I asked as I walked down the steps.

"It's what you call an in-law's quarters. A couple years ago, your uncle's father got very sick and we had planned to have them move in with us so we could look after him. That's why it's in the back so they could have some privacy. But he recovered and it was never used. So we just use it as an attic, so please excuse the mess," she explained as we walked back to my room.

"Privacy?" I asked and sat down on the bed.

She nodded her head with a smile before she started to unpack one of my bags and put my clothes away.

"Do you think that could be my room?"

She stopped folding one of my shirts and looked at me, surprised.

"I'll clean it up and everything," I explained.

Esme blinked out of her surprise and shook her head. "Don't be silly. I'll clean it up for you tonight, but if you could bring the boxes down for me, I would appreciate it. You can just put them in the library."

I looked at her, confused, and she just shook her head in amusement. "One of your uncle's projects, but neither one of us never has the time to finish it."

I nodded my head and looked down at my lap. I heard my aunt let out a sigh before she walked over to me.

"I know you're going through a rough time right now, sweetie. But I just want you to know that your uncle and I are very happy you are here. We've missed you."

I looked up at her and gave her a small smile. She returned it with one of her own before she pushed my hood off and gave me a kiss on my bald head.

It was the first time in ten years I felt like I had a mother.

* * *

**who feels bad for Edward? I know I do :( **

**reviews=teasers because that's how I roll :p**


	3. Chapter 3

**I fall in love with guys more and more every day! just don't tell my boyfriend :P LOL**

**Big thanks to Mollie & Lisa who edit this before you guys see it! My story would be just a bunch of words without them!**

**Remember, for pics from each chapter (outfits & other things), pic teasers, and random updates/teasers, follow me on Twitter and add me on Facebook! Links in my Bio!**

**::sigh:: why can't Edward be mine? :(**

* * *

It had been three months since I moved in with the Cullens, and everything was still the same. I was still the hideous creature Victoria had turned me into with no hope for a change.

Day after day, I could feel the depression slowly begin to creep in more, and I was powerless to stop it.

I tried to keep myself busy and keep my mind occupied, but it would only be that way for a little while, and then the depression would start to make its way back in.

It was hard since I never had anything to do.

In Seattle…I had been constantly busy.

I had plans on a daily basis, whether it had been going to one of my father's work functions, hanging out with some friends, or just screwing Tanya senseless.

I _always_ had something to do.

But in Forks, I was bored out of my fucking mind.

I woke up every morning, took a run through the woods, and would use the trees and stumps as workout equipment. Carlisle and Emmett had workout equipment of their own, but I didn't want to be interrupted so I just used whatever I could in the woods. I downright refused to let my body go to waste just because I looked like a lead in a slasher flick.

Then I would get back to the house and try to find shit to do to occupy myself. I had read more books in those three months than I had in my entire life, but I always got through them quickly so it wasn't much of a time consumer. I'd do little handyman things around the house for Esme since Emmett was away at school and Carlisle worked, but nothing major.

I barely spoke anymore. In the time I had lived with the Cullens, I probably uttered no more than fifty words. I could tell my aunt was worried, but after dealing with my freak-outs the first month, she never spoke her concerns aloud.

I made it perfectly clear that I wanted to be left alone after I moved up to the third floor, but they didn't listen. Esme used to come up on a daily basis just to make sure I was okay or to see if I needed anything until I overheard a conversation between her and Carlisle one night.

He had told her that I just needed time to get used to everything and that she should give me some space. After that, she rarely came up.

I was glad someone respected my wishes.

Alice was a different story.

She came up _every day._ She wouldn't even bother to knock, she would just waltz right up to my room and ramble on and on about random shit I didn't care about and could not take a hint.

It didn't matter if I yelled at her, made fun of her ugly-ass school uniform, ignored her, or would lock myself in my bedroom…she'd still come up every day.

My father, on the other hand, was a different story.

I hadn't seen him since the day he dropped me off.

He promised to be by that weekend, but before the weekend had even arrived, I received the first of many cancellation texts.

_Something came up_.

Eventually, after a month, I called him and told him to stop kidding himself, that the texts weren't necessary anymore, and I knew he wasn't ever coming. This had all been on voicemail of course, because he didn't answer his phone.

I hadn't heard from him since.

Whatever.

I was fine being alone. I'd have to get used to it anyway since I already knew that was how I was going to spend the rest of my life.

I let out a sigh as I heard the laughter ring out from downstairs.

That was another thing.

Alice had people over _all the time_.

It was like grand fucking central station at their house.

Part of me was annoyed with it at first, but I got over it quickly.

I learned how to adapt to the shadows because of it and couldn't help but find amusement in watching how her friends would react when they thought no one was watching.

For example, her one friend, Mike Newton, was a complete and utter tool. When he thought no one was watching, he would pull his already too small shirt down to make it look tighter, constantly check his breath and his armpits in case they stank, and would slick his hair back with a comb every five minutes.

I never had to do that shit. I knew I looked good.

He had this lapdog of a friend named Tyler Crowely who followed him around like a lost little puppy and hung on every word he said. He reminded me of James.

There was this other girl named Jessica. She had it bad for Mike and he knew it. He would constantly flirt with her and throw her cheesy ass lines that she would just crack up over. The only real thing she had going for her was that she had a nice looking rack. But like everyone else, one night when she thought no one was looking, I found out the truth about that.

Jessica was constantly wearing low-cut shirts and would push her boobs out in hopes that Mike would look over. Like I said, I even thought she had a nice rack until I saw her adjust the toilet paper she had stuffed in her bra when they all were watching the TV.

I laughed so hard I had to walk away before they heard me.

Jasper was Alice's boyfriend, and he actually didn't seem like a bad guy. I liked the way he treated my cousin, and even though he was quiet, I could tell he had been very much aware of the things that were happening around him. I even swore he saw me a couple times, but if he had, he never mentioned anything.

The only person I had yet to see was Alice's friend Bella. The only reason I was curious about her is because Alice spoke about her all the time during her daily ramblings. But I remembered that she had said they really only got to hang out during school since Bella worked almost every day.

I had to hold back my laughter at that one. What kid our age _worked_ after school? I found it to be hilarious.

But that night, it was New Year's Eve and Alice was having a costume party/Welcome Back party for Bella since Esme and Carlisle were at a benefit for the hospital he worked at.

I stood up, grabbed my hoodie, and walked down the steps. I pushed my way through the crowd of kids and was grateful that I didn't have to hide my face that much. I made my way out to the garage as I searched my pocket for my keys. I let out a groan when I realized that I had left them in my room. I refused to walk back through the party and chance Alice seeing me, so I grabbed my spare set from the hook, jumped onto my bike, and took off into the night.

I had bought myself the bike the month prior with my father's credit card. I figured if he wasn't going to visit me, I'd spend as much of his money as I could. But apparently he didn't care, because even that didn't make him want to call me.

I drove for hours and sped in and out of traffic. I didn't realize whereI was going until I pulled in front of the building. I took my helmet off and looked up. The music could be heard from the inside, and there were a bunch of people gathered out front smoking cigarettes.

With a sigh, I got off of my bike and walked toward the entrance of the New Year's Eve party held every year by my father's company.

It wasn't hard to sneak in, considering the guy at the door was flirting with some blonde that had her boobs almost out, so I just slipped through the front door. I walked up the steps and looked around.

Even though I had been there a million times, and had lived for parties like the one that was being thrown, I felt more alone than when I was at the Cullens'.

I took another deep breath and walked into the crowd. Everyone was wearing costumes there as well, and I had to shake my head.

I didn't understand what made people think New Year's was an occasion for costumes.

I searched around the crowd for a couple minutes before I finally stopped a random girl.

"Do you know where Tanya Denali is?"

"Whoa!" she breathed out as she stumbled back. "Great costume."

I rolled my eyes at her slurred words and walked away. I continued to walk through the crowd until a familiar squeal hit my ears. When I looked in the direction of the sound, my jaw clenched.

Sitting at one of the tables were Tanya and James. She was in his lap and they were making out.

I squeezed my fists together in anger.

Who the fuck did they think they were?

_Nobody_ cheated on Edward Masen Jr.

I took a step toward them with the intention of ripping them apart when a flash of red hair caught my eye. When I turned, my eyes went wide in shock.

"Victoria," I whispered to myself.

She turned around and smirked at me, almost as if she heard me say her name, before she turned her back toward me and continued to dance.

I pushed and shoved my way through the people on the dance floor to try and get closer.

"Victoria! Please make this end! Please!" I begged.

"I can't do that," she sang as she held her cane above her head and moved her body to the beat of the music.

She was wearing black and white striped slacks, a black jacket, a black and white checkered ruffled shirt, white gloves, and a large hat with a bunch of different feathers pinned to it. She looked like the female version of a drugged up Mad Hatter.

"I know you can…please! I…I know what it's like to be ugly now! I learned my lesson!" I continued to beg as I followed her.

Victoria stopped so abruptly, I almost ran into her.

"You learned nothing!" she snapped. "Find someone who can see you better than you can."'

I looked at her in disbelief when I realized she wasn't going to undo whatever she had done.

She gave me a sickly sweet smile before she started to dance away.

"Eight more months for someone to say I love you!" I heard her sing right before she disappeared into the crowd.

I don't know how long I stood there before I pushed everyone out of my way as I ran out. I couldn't even remember the drive home; all I knew was that I made it back to Forks in record time.

When I pulled into the Cullens' garage, I was pissed to see the party was still going on even though it was well past midnight. I pulled my hood further onto my head and walked out of the garage toward the back of the house.

I decided I didn't want to have to push my way through a crowd of people, so I would go through the kitchen door instead of the garage door, in hopes that most of the people would be in other areas of the house.

Once I made it to the back, I reached for the knob and almost screamed in frustration when I felt that it wouldn't turn.

Someone had locked it.

I cracked my neck and took a deep breath before I turned and headed back toward the garage to get my keys. I still refused to use the garage door because of the off chance that Alice might have caught me.

I walked up to the hook to grab my keys but stopped when I only saw one key hanging. I had forgotten that in my rush to get out of the house, I left my actual keys in my room and used the spare set, which didn't have a house key.

This time, I couldn't hold back my frustration.

I clenched my jaw and let out an aggravated yell right before I turned and kicked a toolbox.

"Hey! Hey! Watch it!" I heard a voice exclaim from behind me.

I snapped around toward the sound before I quickly moved into the shadows so that they couldn't see me. Whoever it was hadn't been there when I pulled in, because if they had, I would have seen them when my headlight was on.

"Sorry," I mumbled as I looked the person over.

There was a girl, no older than Alice, sitting Indian style on the garage floor with her hands around a red plastic cup. Her long brown hair was done in braided pigtails on each side of her head with white bows on the end, her eyes were big and brown, and for some reason made me feel like she was looking more into my soul than actually looking at me. Her lips were pink with the bottom one a little plumper than the top and her face was round.

She had on a red dress with white checks that hung over her knees as she sat, with a white apron that had red checks over the top of it. She wore a long, red cape with a hood that flowed out all around her and tied at the neck. On her feet were white socks with lace trim that came up to her ankles, the kind you would normally see little girls wear, and black shiny shoes with a strap and a bow.

She had to have been the most adorable person I had ever seen in my entire life.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I let out a cough and looked down when I realized I had been staring at her.

"Ugh…yeah, I'm fine."

I raised my eyes to see her press her lips together and tilt her head. It was almost as if she could tell I was lying.

"I just got some bad news," I explained with a shrug.

The girl snorted and shook her head.

"I know all about that," she mumbled as she brought her cup up to her lips and took a sip. "What was your bad news, if you don't mind my asking?"

I let out a huff and leaned my head back on the wall. "It's complicated."

"I'm sure I can keep up"

I looked back at her and watched as her eyes looked me over. I could tell she couldn't see my face because even though she had been looking at me, her eyes were moving back and forth as if to try and find my own.

"I just found out that the one person that could help me get out of a bad situation…won't."

"You can't get out of it yourself?" she asked with interest.

I snorted. Even though Victoria told me what I had to do to get out of it, I knew there was no way possible way I could.

Fucking double standard.

"No, I can't."

"Well, I hope that person changes their mind. Maybe they just need some time…"

"Time is the one thing I don't have," I mumbled.

"I'm sure it's not that bad. At least you're alive, that has to count for something. You'll figure something out," she offered with a shrug.

I watched her in complete amazement. I had no idea who she was and she had no idea what was going on, but with three sentences, she made me feel better.

We were both silent for a minute or two before I cleared my throat and asked her what her bad news was.

"It's _really_ complicated."

She took another sip from her cup and I smirked.

"I'm sure I can keep up."

The girl looked in my direction, let out a dry laugh and shook her head.

"Well," she started with a huff. "I went to New York over the holiday break to see about this scholarship for a school I want to go to in the fall, and when I came back, I found out that my boyfriend of two years has been cheating on me with my step-sister for half of our relationship, the same step-sister who was basically one of my best friends."

My eyes went wide. Someone had actually cheated on this girl? I wanted to kill whoever that douchebag was, and I had only known her for five minutes.

Hell, I didn't even know her name yet.

"Wow, that was way too much information to give to a total stranger. I'm sorry! I usually don't open up like that. I blame this delicious, but dangerous, drink my friend Alice made for me."

I perked up when she mentioned my cousin.

"You know Alice?"

The girl stood up from the ground and wiped the back of her cape.

"My whole life," she stated with a nod. "Well, almost my whole life. We met when I was five. She can be a bit much sometimes, but that's just how Alice is. You gotta love her."

I smiled. It was exactly how I felt about my little cousin. Even though she got on my nerves ninety-five percent of the time, I still loved her to death.

"So how come you aren't inside getting stupidly drunk with everyone else?" she asked.

"As opposed to getting stupidly drunk alone in a dark garage," I replied with a smirk.

The girl giggled and my smile widened.

"Touché," she responded before taking another sip of her drink.

"I don't really know the girl who this party is for," I said with a shrug.

She smiled and nodded. "Ah, I see. So you just came for the free booze?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Not exactly."

I looked over at my bike and motioned toward it. "I was thinking of taking that out for a ride."

The girl winced. "I don't know if I would do that if I were you."

My brows went together in confusion. "Why not?"

"That bike belongs to the guy that lives upstairs. It's a beauty, I know, but from what I hear, if you touch it, he won't like it very much."

I quirked my eyebrow up. The Cullens had actually respected my wishes and hadn't told anyone that I moved in. They must have told people they rented out the room to someone or something, which was a hell of a lot better than explaining why they had to take their deformed nephew in.

"The guy upstairs?"

She nodded. "He lives on the third floor. He pretty much keeps to himself, but Emmett said he doesn't like it when other people touch his stuff."

I clenched my jaw. "So Emmett thinks he's a dick?"

The girl let out a sigh and shook her head. "No, he didn't say anything like that. This is coming out all wrong. I blame this drink," she mumbled as she looked down at it before she continued. "He just said that he doesn't touch anyone else's things, so he doesn't want anyone touching his."

I calmed down a bit and leaned back against the wall. I opened my mouth to speak, but she started again before I could say a word.

"At first I thought it was their cousin Masen, but Alice said she hasn't seen him in years."

That had me straighten up again. "You know him?"

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "Well, not really. We met once or twice when I was younger, but it was only in a 'hi/bye' kind of way."

I racked my brain to try and remember her but came up blank.

The girl let out a chuckle. "I used to have the biggest crush on him."

My head shot up in shock.

_She what?_

"When I was younger, and my mom was still around, she used to take me every summer to Phoenix, and that was when Masen used to visit. So the day I would get home from vacation, I would beg my dad to drive me right over here hoping I would get to see him, but it would always be too late or just as he was leaving. Hence the whole 'hi/bye' thing."

Even though she couldn't see me, I tried to hide my smile.

"Saw some pictures of him inside. Not a bad looking guy."

I winced when the words came out of my mouth.

She snorted and said, "And he knew it."

I swallowed bile in my throat. For some reason, the thought of this girl thinking low of me had my stomach in knots.

"He's a douche?"

I was terrified to hear her answer.

"No!" she answered quickly. "It's just…he looked good. So he…I don't know. This is coming out all wrong." She looked back down at her red cup. "Stupid delicious drink."

I watched as she pouted down at her cup and couldn't help but find it utterly adorable. I opened my mouth to keep the conversation going, but the garage door opened. I moved closer to the wall to make sure I was still in the shadows.

"There you are!" I heard my cousin squeal from the doorway. "I've been looking all over for you! What are you doing out here?"

The girl let out a sigh. "I just needed some air."

Alice put her hands on her hips and her face hardened. "No more thinking about Jacob! I forbid it."

I looked over at my cousin and had to hold back my snort. She had on a purple corset with black feathers and ribbons on it, purple and black wings, a sheer black skirt, fishnet stockings, heels, and in her hands was a wand. Of course she would dress up like a pixie.

"Come back in the party," Alice urged. "Everyone is asking for you."

The girl nodded and took a step toward the door. My heart dropped when I thought she forgot all about me, but I quickly lifted my shoulders when she stopped and turned back around.

"Well, it's been nice chatting with you, stranger. You should come inside; I'm sure the girl whose party this is wouldn't mind," she said with a tiny smile before she walked to the door.

I surprised myself with the thought of actually going into the party. There was something about that girl that made me want to get to know her more, and if I had to suffer through one of my cousin's parties for a chance to talk to her again, I was willing.

"Bella, who are you talking to?" Alice asked in confusion as they walked back into the house.

My jaw fell open.

_That_ was Bella?

Sweet, caring, accident-prone, Bella?

The way Alice had described her; I had expected her to be a complete dog, someone who was overly nice to make up for her lack of looks. But that girl was no dog.

She was fucking gorgeous.

And I wanted to know everything about her.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

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* * *

I was pathetic.

No, I was beyond pathetic.

I was downright sad.

But I couldn't help it. There was just something so intriguing about Bella Swan, and it made me want to know everything about her.

After she had gone back inside with Alice, I went straight up to my room, grabbed my laptop, and began to investigate.

This was after I stood in the garage for a good twenty minutes and debated with myself on actually going in to look for her, of course.

I booted up my laptop, and logged onto my Facebook. I went straight to Alice's page and began my search.

She wasn't hard to find since most of Alice's tagged photos were from Bella. So I clicked on her page and had to hold back my fist pump of joy when I saw that it wasn't private.

I Facebook-stalked the shit out of her.

But that wasn't what made me sad. What made me sad was the fact that my new hobby became following Bella around and watching her from the shadows.

I followed her for close to three months, and I knew almost everything about her.

Bella Swan had to be the most intriguing person I had ever met in my entire life.

I couldn't do much during the day since she was in school, so I would occupy myself with my workouts and anything my aunt needed done. But once I knew Forks Prep dismissed, I was on my bike trying to find Bella.

It usually wasn't hard to locate her. There weren't many places to go in Forks, and she went to the same places all the time. If she wasn't working at the sporting goods store, she was most likely at the bookstore in town.

She loved to read, and her favorite book was _Wuthering Heights_. She constantly carried around an old, tattered copy that she would bring out at random times to read. Bella was at the bookstore more than she was at any other place, and whenever she would go in, I would wait five minutes, then follow her inside. I stuck to the shadows and just watched her move.

I watched her stroll up and down the stacks as she brushed her fingers against the spines of the books before she would pull one out when the title caught her interest. I would watch as she read the summary of each book she picked out while she twirled a piece of her hair around her fingers. If it was something that she liked, she would get the cutest smile on her face; if it was something that she didn't like, her eyebrows would come together, and she would scrunch her nose up.

It was all so fucking adorable.

She rarely left without a purchase of at least one book.

Bella drove a rusted, old red pickup that looked like it belonged in a junkyard but she seemed to love it, and she never went anywhere without her headphones and her camera.

She would walk up and down the streets of Forks taking photos of random things while she bobbed her head to whatever music she listened to. At times, she would get so into whatever she was listening to, that she would sing out the lyrics loudly as she bobbed her head, then stop, cover her mouth, and look around as her cheeks tinted in embarrassment.

I loved it all.

She volunteered at the local food banks and drug clinics on a weekly basis and would spend some of her nights out on the streets with other volunteers handing out food and blankets to whomever needed them.

Did I mention that she was amazing?

Her favorite candy was Twizzlers, and she didn't like ice in any of her drinks. Whenever there was a lemon in her drink, she would eat it. The rind and all and just shrugged when people gave her weird looks.

She preferred to wear jeans and sneakers over skirts and high heels but would allow my cousin to dress her up occasionally when Alice would beg.

She was also fucking gorgeous, and not that fake gorgeous that makeup gives a girl, she was just hands down naturally beautiful. Hell, she even made their ugly school uniform look good.

The best part was that she didn't even know it.

I would watch in anger as the idiots she and my cousin called friends flirted with her, and she would just respond back, completely oblivious.

Alice had told me once in her ramblings that Bella was a walking accident, and she wasn't kidding. This girl got hurt at least once a day. She would trip, fall, or bump into something like it was her job, and I had to fight the urge to catch her each time.

Bella also took care of her father, who was the chief of police, and cleaned up around the house at least twice a week.

I honestly didn't know how she did it all. On top of school, work, and her volunteering, I often wondered how she managed to find time to sleep.

But on that particular night, Bella was home. I stood across the street next to a tree, thankful for the big bay window that gave me a view into her living room and watched her.

She was lounging on her couch, reading a book, and chewing on Twizzlers.

Every time she brushed her hair away from her face, I imagined it was my fingers that brushed it away, and every time she laughed, I imagined she was laughing at something I had said.

I let out a sigh, closed my eyes, and leaned back against the tree. I had spoken to this girl once, and she had completely taken over my world. There was just something about her, and I didn't know what it was.

She was so different from any girl I had met before. She didn't expect or even want things from other people and gave more than she ever got. I silently wished for the millionth time that I had met her before the curse.

But that made me wonder…

Would I have been so interested if I was my normal self? Or would I have just made her a conquest if I was single and free? I would have liked to have said the first part, but I was more inclined to believe the latter.

My thoughts were interrupted by the feel of my phone vibrating. I no longer got excited when it went off anymore because the only people who called me were my aunt and Alice, and they would only do that when I wasn't at home.

I pulled my phone out and rolled my eyes when I read the message.

Another text from Alice reminding that she would be leaving for the summer in just three short weeks, and she would like to spend some time with me before she left.

I put the phone back in my pocket without even responding.

Apparently, Rosalie and Jasper's family had decided to take their children on a vacation to Europe for the summer and had invited Emmett and Alice along.

Which is why Alice kept begging to spend time together. I didn't know what she was so worried about; it wasn't like I wouldn't be there when they got back in September.

I had until September 15th to break the curse, and the closest I had come was turning into a stalker. I wanted Bella to be the one more than anything, but I had to be realistic about the whole thing.

Once she got a good look at my face, she would run right for the hills, and I wouldn't blame her.

The sound of a door closing caused me to look back toward Bella's house. She was walking out of her house carrying two trash bags, and I wanted nothing more than to go over there and help her. But I used all the strength I had to stay put.

I felt my phone go off again and looked down to pull it out of my pocket so I could tell Alice to leave me alone when I heard what sounded like a trash can being knocked over.

When I looked up…I saw red.

There were now two men with Bella. One stood in front of her pointing a gun, while the other stood behind her with his arms around her and one of his hands covering her mouth.

They began to drag her into the house and I ran right over. Just as I reached the door, I saw Bella elbow the guy that had been holding her in the stomach and heard her yell out for help.

Before she could even finish her sentence, the man recovered, grabbed a gun from the waist of his jeans, and pistol-whipped her. Bella fell to the ground, unconscious, and I lunged at him. I had no idea where the second man had run off to, and I didn't care. All I knew was that this person had put his hands on Bella, and he was going to pay.

The man dropped the gun in surprise before he realized what was happening. He started to fight back, but he was slow, and it was just too easy to dodge his punches. I grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into the wall before I threw one, good, hard punch to his face, which caused him to pass out.

As he fell to the floor, I rushed over to Bella.

I moved the hair out of her face and could see the blood coming from the wound the gun had caused when she was hit. I lifted her up off the ground and took her to the couch. I lifted her chin lightly and looked her over.

I had no idea what I was looking for, but all I knew was that I wanted her to wake up.

"Come on, love," I whispered as I rubbed her cheek with my fingers. "Wake up for me. Please be okay."

I looked up when I heard footsteps and saw the second man coming down the stairs with a pillow case thrown over his shoulder that had been stuffed with things.

I gave him a murderous glare as he looked over the scene. His eyes went to his friend on the ground, to Bella, to my face, then back to his friend on the ground. Without saying a word, his eyes went wide, and he ran out of the house with the bag still in his hand.

I didn't even bother to try to follow him because I was too worried about Bella. I continued to rub her cheeks and whisper to her.

"Freeze!"

I snapped my head up to see Charlie Swan standing in the doorway of the living room with his gun pointed at me.

"Get the hell away from my daughter!" he hissed and I stood up.

I put my hands up in surrender and took a step back even though it killed me to do so.

"Chief Swan," I started. "I had nothing to do with this."

I watched as he eyes quickly moved to the unconscious man on the floor, then to Bella, then back to me.

"You trying to rob me, boy?" he asked with malice in his voice as he took a step forward.

I shook my head and gestured to the man on the ground.

"He came in here with another person…they had guns. I was just walking by and heard your daughter yell for help."

I watched as his eyes scanned my face, and he finally took in what I looked like. His face didn't give anything away, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing. The man on the ground began to groan, and the chief moved over to him.

"Don't you dare move!" he yelled toward me as he knelt down next to the man.

He checked his pulse with his left hand since he was still pointing his gun at me with his right. He quickly grabbed the handcuffs off of his belt and cuffed the man to his newel post before he grabbed the man's gun off of the ground and stuck it in his back pocket.

He stood back up and never took his eyes off me as he moved the walkie on his shoulder closer to his mouth.

"This is Chief Swan; I need a bus at my house right away. My daughter has been harmed in a home invasion."

Someone responded through the walkie as the chief finally lowered his gun and put it away.

"Want to tell me what happened here?"

I took a deep breath.

"I was out for a walk when I heard your daughter yell. I ran in and took him down right after he knocked her out. I picked her up and put her on the couch just as the second one came down with a bag full of stuff. He ran out before I could stop him."

The chief kept his eyes on Bella the entire time as he brushed the hair away from the wound on her head. I saw him shake his head and curse.

"Description?"

"My height, medium build, maybe late twenties. I didn't really get a good look because I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"We had to make some cutbacks down at the station. I've had to work triples just to make up for the loss of manpower. I thought she would be okay," he whispered to himself.

I heard the sirens in the distance and took a step forward.

"She can't stay here. It's not safe." I said as I watched her father close his eyes. "She has people she can stay with, the Cullens."

The chief nodded his head, and I looked out the window as the sirens came closer.

"I have to go."

He made no move to stop me when I slipped out the back door and ran into the night

* * *

The next night I was walking out of the kitchen when I overhead Carlisle on the phone. I didn't pay too much attention to the conversation until I heard Bella's name. His voice was muffled, but I was able to make out most of the conversation.

Charlie Swan had called Carlisle and asked him if it would be okay if Bella moved in for a little while until he was finished working so many hours.

As soon as I heard my uncle say it was okay, I ran up to my room. I immediately started to pump my hands in the air in excitement and whisper yes over and over again. It wasn't until I heard a throat being cleared behind me that I stopped and spun around.

My eyes went wide, and I felt my cheeks begin to burn in embarrassment when I saw my aunt standing at the top of my steps with her arms crossed and a look of complete amusement on her face.

"Your uncle and I just got an interesting call."

"Oh?" I wrapped my arms around my body.

"It was from Charlie Swan."

I walked over to my desk and started to move papers around to try to make myself look busy.

"Who's he?" I flinched when my voice cracked.

Esme walked over to me and put her hand on my arm which caused me to stop moving the papers around.

"Were you the one who helped Bella last night?"

I looked up at her and silently cursed to myself when I saw the hurt in her eyes.

"I was just out for a walk…"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She sounded so sad and wounded.

"It was nothing."

She stared at me for another second before she nodded. She turned back around and walked back toward the steps.

"Well, I just wanted you to know that there will be a new person in the house soon. Because I'm sure you didn't already know that," she told me with a smirk.

My mouth fell open in shock before I fought to hide my smile and nodded.

"Right."

She let out a soft chuckle and shook her head.

"Lunch will be ready in fifteen minutes, Masen."

I went to nod my head but stopped when she said my name. Bella knew who Masen was, she knew what I used to look like, and there was no way I wanted her to know what I had become.

"Aunt Esme?" I called out, causing her to stop her walk down the steps.

"Do you think everyone could start to call me Edward?"

She looked at me stunned before she smiled and responded, "Of course, sweetie."

I smiled as she walked down the steps.

Three weeks later, after her graduation, Bella moved into the house.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

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* * *

I paced back and forth in my room as I waited for the sound of her truck to come down the driveway. It seemed like I had waited for years before I finally heard it. I jumped up at that second and ran down the steps.

I hardly even noticed when I stubbed my toe.

I stood at the end of the hallway, hiding behind a wall. I poked my head out just enough to look past but quickly pulled back when I heard my aunt's voice.

"You're welcome to anything we have, you know that, and if there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask."

I heard the door open to the guest bedroom and made my move down the hallway. I stood with my back against the wall and listened for any sign that they were moving closer to the doorway.

"I'm sure you know Alice and Emmett are away with the Hales until the end of the summer, but if you wanted to invite any of your friends over, Carlisle and I have no problem with that."

There was no response from Bella, just the sound of bags being put down. I listened as Esme offered to help her unpack, but she quietly declined. After a couple seconds, I heard their voices move closer to the door and ran back down the hallway.

After a minute or two, I peeked my head back out and saw Bella walk out of her room. She turned her head toward me, and my eyes went wide. I immediately pulled back and ran to my room.

"Hey!" I heard her scream just as I slammed my door shut.

I quickly locked it and sighed with relief. I jumped when I heard the pounding on the door.

"Hey, you! Open the damn door!"

I held my breath until she spoke again.

"I know you're there! I can see your feet!"

I looked down and cursed as I stepped back.

"You're the one who was there that night we got robbed, right? The one talking to my dad? You told him to bring me here…He said it was his idea, but I heard you talking."

I stepped closer to the door and bit my lip. Was she going to say thank you? Was I going to be able to speak to say you're welcome if she did?

"Well, screw you!" she yelled.

My head snapped back as I looked at the door in shock.

"I don't need help from anyone, especially you! So you better stay the _hell_ away from me!"

I continued to stare at the door in disbelief long after I heard her bedroom door slam in the distance.

* * *

I stood at the end of the hallway, pacing back and forth. Bella was due home any minute, and I couldn't wait a second longer.

Bella had been living with us for two weeks and hadn't spoken to me once. I would stand at the end of the hallway for hours, just waiting for her to come out of her room so I could catch a glimpse of her. When she finally did, part of me wished she would look down toward my room, but she never did.

Not once.

I had to watch her from afar, and she lived under the same roof as me.

She rarely went out.

If she did, it was to go to work or have lunch with her father.

Bella mostly hung out in her room or did things around the house. She was never even asked to do any of the chores, but she did them anyway. If she used a dish, she cleaned it as soon as she was done and put it away, and if there were other dishes in the sink, she cleaned them, too.

She did her wash once a week, and if there were clothes in the dryer already, she folded them and left them sitting on top of the dryer.

My aunt always kept her house clean by dedicating every Sunday to an all-day marathon of cleaning, but ever since Bella had moved in, her Sundays were now spent in her garden. Which Bella also helped with.

Did I mention she was an amazing cook, too?

Before Bella had moved in, I had started to come down for dinner since I had become more comfortable around my family, but I stopped since our first meeting hadn't been what I hoped for. So my aunt would bring up my plate and I would take it down once I knew Bella was in her room for the night.

A couple nights before, we'd had stuffed peppers, and my mouth watered at just the thought of them. I devoured the two my aunt brought up to me and went down as soon as possible for more. I started to compliment Esme and tell her how delicious they were when she told me Bella had made them.

That was also the night I found out my window overlooked the balcony that was attached to Bella's room and that she went out there almost every night.

I'd watch from afar as she either took pictures of the night or read a book. After two nights, I decided I needed to make my move to try and get Bella to talk to me.

* * *

I hid behind my favorite wall and watched as Bella walked up the stairs, digging through her bag with her earphones tucked safely into her ears. I could feel my heart beating in my chest, and I was scared it might burst.

Bella walked up to her door but stopped when she felt her foot kick something. She looked down, and I held my breath as she spotted the little blue box.

I watched as she crouched down and picked up the box with her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. I bounced back and forth on my feet while she picked up the box and opened it.

Her mouth fell open, and I bit my lip to hold back my excitement.

I watched as she pulled the bracelet out of the box and looked it over. I took two deep breaths to try to prepare myself for what I would say to her, but I stopped a second later.

Bella's jaw tensed right before she tossed the bracelet back inside, dropped it to the floor, and went into her room, slamming the door behind her.

I stood there with my mouth open. She had taken one look at the bracelet and thrown it to the ground. Once my shock wore off, I headed down the hallway to pick up the box, then walked back to my room.

I scratched my head as I inspected the bracelet. It looked fine to me, but obviously Bella didn't like it. I chucked the bracelet onto my bed and just stared at it. I tried to think back on the things Tanya always used to tell me about girls and presents, but I was drawing a blank.

But I could have sworn Tanya had said every girl wanted a Tiffany bracelet. She had practically taken my credit card and bought it, she was so open about how much she wanted one.

I thought about how Bella walked up the steps and realized that she didn't have a purse on her. She was carrying an old, ratty tote bag. I quickly ran to my computer and bought the first Prada bag I found.

I had the purse overnighted, and the next day I walked down the hallway toward Bella's bedroom. I put the box on the ground, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

I quickly rushed back down the hallway and hid behind the wall.

Bella came out of her room and looked up and down the hallway. I hid back so that she wouldn't see me but peeked out after a couple seconds so I could see her reaction.

She crouched down and lifted the lid off of the box.

I held my breath.

Bella picked up the purse and looked at it before she rolled her eyes, dropped it back into the open box, turned around, and went back into her room. I clenched my jaw and fists before I stomped down the hallway to retrieve the gift.

I tossed the purse onto my bed and let out a huff as I sat down at my desk.

Bella Swan was the most confusing girl I had ever met, but luckily I was always up for a new challenge.

Over the next couple weeks, I bought a bunch of different things to try to win Bella over, but nothing seemed to work.

I bought her a black Gucci dress that she didn't even bother to pull out of the box all the way before she dropped it and walked away.

There was the pair of black Jimmy Choo sunglasses that she hadn't even bothered to open. They cost more than the goddamn dress. I waited for hours for her to open them before I finally gave up and went to bed.

The next morning when I had gone down for my morning run, I found the unopened box right outside my door. I punched a hole in the wall after that.

I was sitting at my desk looking out the window to see that it was a rare, sunny day in Forks when the thought finally came to me.

I snapped my head back toward the pile of gifts in the corner of the room then back toward the window.

Tanya had always said that no girl could resist anything that sparkled, and every time she had gotten mad at me, I'd bought her something expensive and sparkly, and then she would forgive me.

I smiled and turned toward my laptop to buy Bella's next present.

The necklace came two days later, and I found myself standing at the end of the hallway with the box in my hand. It was a white-gold chain with a bow charm filled with diamonds. It had cost me a small fortune, but all that mattered was that Bella liked it.

I didn't realize how long I had been standing there staring at the box until I heard Bella yell to my aunt that she was home. That made me jump into action. I placed the box in front of her door and ran down the hallway.

Bella walked up the hallway, chewing on a piece of Twizzlers, and bobbing her head to the music she was listening to.

She stopped when she saw the box and let out a sigh. She swallowed her candy as she walked up to her door. I let out a defeated groan when she started to walk past the gift without bothering to look at it, but I perked back up when she stopped.

I watched as she closed her eyes and mumbled to herself before she bent down to pick up the box.

Bella adjusted the strap of her bag that was on her shoulder and lifted the lid. I watched as her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open as she stared at the necklace.

I tried to hide my smile because she continued to stare at the necklace for the next ten seconds. I was about to take a step toward her when the unthinkable happened.

Bella snapped the lid shut on the box, threw it to the ground, and walked into her room, slamming her door louder than I had ever heard it.

I let out a loud growl and punched the air. I stomped down the hallway and picked up the box.

There had been absolutely nothing wrong with the necklace, and she tossed it away like it was a piece of trash. I didn't know what else to do.

The necklace was supposed to be my ace in the hole, and it turned out to be nothing but another dud. I started to walk back toward my room when something caught my eye. I took a step back and looked into Alice's room and saw that her closet door was open.

The entire floor was covered in shoes. There had to have been about twenty different pairs. My idea popped into my head and I ran straight to my room. I threw the necklace in the corner and grabbed my credit card.

Normally, I would have just ordered them online, but I didn't want to have to wait for the shipping, so I ran down to see if my aunt was still home.

I held back my cry of joy as I ran down the steps just in time to see Esme grabbing her purse.

"Aunt Esme!" I yelled.

She jumped and let out a chuckle before she told me I frightened her. She gave me a strange look before I realized I still had the black ski mask on my head. I had worn it every time I had given Bella a gift so that if she wanted to thank me, she wouldn't see my face.

But that never happened.

I yanked the mask off of my head. "Can you go and pick up some shoes for me? Any kind that Alice usually gets, I don't care."

Esme smiled as she put the strap to her purse on her shoulder. "Bella didn't like the other gifts you bought her?"

"No. But I noticed she doesn't have any nice shoes! What girl doesn't love shoes? Price doesn't matter…is there a Christian Louboutin store around here?" I was talking so fast, I was sure she probably had a hard time keeping up with me.

My aunt shook her head. "Edward, she doesn't seem like the type…"

"Prada, then!" I exclaimed, cutting her off.

"To be bought," she finished with a smile.

I snapped my head back.

"I'm not trying to buy her!"

"You are," she explained with a nod of her head. "And she'll hate it."

My shoulders sagged as I let out a sigh and leaned back against the wall.

"I don't know what else to do. She won't talk to me," I mumbled.

Esme walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Bella's a sweet girl, Edward. She's not one to hold grudges. But I can tell you that buying her gifts probably isn't helping the situation."

I let out a snort. That was an understatement.

"What should I do then?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Try to be creative. Start with what you know about her, then go from there."

She gave me a kiss on the cheek before I started back toward my room to try to think of a way to get Bella to talk to me.

* * *

I stared at the final present that was on my bed and wished desperately that I had hair so I could pull at it. Instead I chewed on my fingernails.

My palms were sweaty and my blood was racing.

I had no idea how Bella would react to this gift, and it scared me to death.

I finally let out a huff, rubbed my pants, and put on the ski mask before I grabbed her gift and made my way downstairs.

It was Sunday and Bella was in her cleaning mode.

I knew she was in her room because I saw her from my window.

My heart continued to race as I walked toward her room very slowly. I could hear her moving around when I approached. I put the present down and went to lift my hand to knock when I noticed that her door was open a couple inches.

Leaning closer, I tried to peek in so I could get a glimpse of her but couldn't see anything.

I had just started to move closer when the door suddenly opened fully.

I jumped and slammed into the wall behind me.

"Ahh!" Bella yelled as she dropped the laundry basket she had in her hand.

"Jesus!" I breathed out. "What's your problem?"

"What's with the mask?" she asked while she brought her hand up to her chest to try to slow her undoubtedly racing heart.

"I didn't want to freak you out!" I explained.

"Yeah!" she said with a dry chuckle. "Because the ski mask didn't freak me out!"

She took her hand away from my chest and motioned toward my head as I pushed myself away from the wall. I just shrugged my shoulders in response. She may have thought the ski mask was weird, but she had no idea that without it would have been worse.

"You're the one that helped me that night, aren't you?" I nodded my head. "Why am I here?"

"Because you need to be protected…"

"But I can take care of myself!" she snapped, cutting me off.

I let out a sigh and looked down at my feet.

"I was just trying to help," I whispered.

We both stood there for a couple seconds before she spoke again.

"What's your name?" she asked in a softer tone.

My head snapped up in shock before I responded. "Edward."

Bella pressed her lips together before she bent down, picked up my gift, put it on top of her laundry basket, then picked them both up.

"Thanks for the Twizzlers, Edward," she mumbled before she walked down the steps.

I was so surprised that it wasn't until she had already started to walk down the stairs when I was able to choke out a "You're welcome".

I heard Bella say hello to my aunt who was coming up the stairs with a pile of folded towels in her hand and ran over.

When I was sure Bella was out of sight, I ripped the ski mask off of my head and lightly grabbed my aunt.

"The creative thing worked!" I exclaimed right before I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Esme let out a giggle and smiled.

I ran back down the hallway toward my room to try to think of more creative things to do for Bella when I stopped. I looked to my left to see the closed door to the room where I had put all the boxes that were in my room before I moved in.

I smiled when the idea popped into my mind.

"Aunt Esme?" I called out. "Can I ask you something?"

* * *

**THEY TALKED THEY TALKED! hehe who's happy? wonder how its going to turnout!**

**let me know what you think :) reviews = teasers! and a reminder, i can NOT answer quest reviews :( so make sure you're signed in :))  
**

**now i'm off to see The Great and Powerful Oz! fairwell everyone :))**


	6. Chapter 6

**i'm really sorry for the delay in postings and not responding to reviews. as some of you may know, my cat edward passed away a couple weeks ago and i just couldn't find the energy to write. i did, however, read every single one of your reviews and loved them all. i hope you are all still with me.**

**Big thanks to Mollie & Lisa who edit this before you guys see it! My story would be just a bunch of words without them!**

**Remember, for pics from each chapter (outfits & other things), pic teasers, and random updates/teasers, follow me on Twitter and add me on Facebook! Links in my Bio!**

**i own nothing.**

**this chapter is dedicated to my cat edward, he was the best cat anyone could have ever had and i miss him every single day.**

* * *

I started work on the library as soon as my aunt said it was okay. I thought that it was going to be just moving some boxes around and setting up shelves, but I was wrong.

Once everything was out of there, the walls had to be primed and painted, new furniture had to be picked out, and most of the shelves had to be mounted to the wall.

I didn't mind, though. I knew Bella would love it when it was all finished.

Bella and I hadn't talked much since I had given her her last gift, but I wasn't worried. Every time she came out of her room, she looked down the hallway toward mine, and she made it a habit to come to the bottom of my steps each night to call up and say goodnight.

I wanted to approach her again, but I wasn't sure how to do that without her seeing my face. I couldn't wear the ski mask all the time; she would think there was something wrong with me.

Not that seeing my face would be better; I just, for some reason, really wanted her to like me.

I looked up as I heard the door to the library open and saw my uncle walk in. He looked around and nodded his head.

"This is really coming along, Edward. Thank you."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I mean it. I'm proud of you," Carlisle stated.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I had waited to hear those words come out of my father for years, and all it took for Carlisle to say them was for me to just clean up one of his spare rooms. I sniffed and motioned toward a box.

"I'm not sure what you guys want to do with it."

I walked over, picked up the box, and handed it to him.

Carlisle placed the box on a table and opened it up. I watched as an emotion went across his face I didn't quite understand. His eyes almost looked misty before he blinked and closed the box.

"These were a few items your aunt and I bought before we found out she couldn't have children…I'll just take them with me."

I nodded my head and watched as he picked the box up.

"Have you ever wished that your life was different?" I asked, causing Carlisle to look up at me.

"How do you mean, son?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. I knew I probably shouldn't have asked my next question, but it was eating away at me.

"Like…Do you hate Aunt Esme's ex-husband for what he did to her? Because it affected your future?"

My uncle let out a sigh and put down the box he was holding.

"It's complicated, Edward."

"I would," I stated. "I would hate him."

"I hate what happened to your aunt. She's the sweetest, kindest person I know and did not deserve to have that happen to her."

"But because of him, you can't have your own kids."

Carlisle's brows went together. "I do have my own kids."

My eyes went wide. "I didn't mean…"

He chuckled and shook his head. "I know what you mean, son. What I'm trying to say is that every man grows up wishing to have his own children with the woman he loves. But it's not possible for your aunt and me. That doesn't mean I love your cousins any less or think of them as 'not really mine.' It doesn't matter how they came into our lives, Emmett and Alice are my children, no matter what."

I looked over at my uncle in awe. He was the most amazing man I had ever met. He was a top-notch doctor, who was very rich and had a beautiful wife. But instead of being greedy and cold, he was giving and openhearted.

Carlisle stayed in the room with me for a little while longer and continued to talk to me about unimportant topics.

He began to tell me a story from his childhood about a time he and his friends jumped off a roof. They wanted to prove who wasn't scared, and my uncle jumped off first but landed wrong and broke his arm.

He said when his mom took him to the hospital, he was in awe of the doctor because he took the pain away.

I couldn't help but laugh at his explanation and shake my head.

"You thought he was a superhero?"

He chuckled and nodded. "Since that day I always had my heart set on being a doctor. I knew I wanted to help people."

I gave him a small smile. We stood there in silence for a couple seconds before he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Besides, chicks dig doctors."

I chuckled and shook my head. I looked down and a black vine on my right hand caught my eye. I let out a sigh.

"Too bad they don't dig ugly guys," I mumbled.

I looked up when I felt my uncle place his hand on my shoulder.

"How do you know?" he asked softly.

* * *

I paid no interest to the movie that was playing on the TV as I doodled on my notepad. I was watching one of those home-ec channels for tips on how to build shelving but switched it when I got bored.

I looked at the time and sighed.

It was going to be another night of barely any sleep. I was just about to get up to get myself a snack when I heard her voice.

"Hey."

I quickly sat up in my seat and dropped my book on the table.

I coughed and responded with, "Hey."

I pulled my hoodie up more and angled myself in the opposite direction to make sure Bella couldn't see my face.

"Can't sleep?"

I felt her sit down on the arm of the couch and checked my hoodie again.

"I don't sleep."

"Ever?"

I chuckled. "Sometimes it feels that way."

We both sat there in silence for a couple minutes before she spoke again.

"Is this _Say Anything_?"

I looked up at the TV and confirmed it.

"I love this movie. It's so awesome. You never see things like this anymore."

I heard her move to get herself comfortable and wanted nothing more than to lean back and be comfortable with her.

"What do you mean?"

"Grand gestures. Nowadays a guy buying a girl a soda is considered a grand gesture when it shouldn't be." She let out a sigh. "Whatever happened to romance? I'm not saying a guy needs to stand outside of a girl's window with a boom box but sappy, soppy, longhand love letters? Why can't that happen anymore? Just to be so open like that, to express your feelings and just be so…raw. It's a shame."

I listened to her talk and realized she was right. You hardly ever heard stories anymore about guys confessing their feelings for girls because the girls stopped expecting it and starting accepting less.

Bella was right; it was a shame.

"Sorry, sometimes I ramble," she mumbled.

I shook my head and told her it was okay because it really was. I'd listen to her ramble for days.

"I didn't mean to disturb you; I just wanted to get a glass of water."

I opened my mouth to tell her she didn't disturb me, but she had already gotten up and started to walk away.

My shoulders sagged in disappointment.

"Hey, so I have a question. Are we ever going to actually, like, meet?"

My entire body went tense, and my jaw locked. She had no idea how badly I wanted to be able to speak to her face-to-face without a mask but I just couldn't.

"Forget it, sorry. Good night."

I squeezed my eyes shut as I listened to her walk away. Before I could even think, my mouth opened and I spoke.

"Wait."

I clenched my fists on my knees and let out a breath. I couldn't turn back; I was going to show Bella my face. She would see how hideous I was and never speak to me again. I would have to just be happy with the few moments I'd had with her already.

I stood up from the couch. My hands shook as I lifted them and removed my hoodie. I turned toward her and prepared myself for the horrified look. The look I had gotten from everyone, other than the Cullens, since I had been turned this way.

But that wasn't what I saw. From the moment I turned around, Bella's face never changed. She just stared at me like she was staring at a normal person.

"Pretty gruesome, huh?" I asked her to try to break the tension.

Bella blinked and gave me a small smile. "I've seen worse."

My jaw fell open in shock and I didn't know what to say. Bella gave me another smile, said goodnight, and walked up the steps.

I wasn't sure how long I stood there before I sat down on the couch. I let out a laugh before I covered my mouth. The smile on my face was so wide, my cheeks started to hurt.

I was still sitting there in shock when the pen and paper on the coffee table caught my eye.

That was when the greatest idea I had ever come up with came to my mind.

* * *

**so he FINALLY showed his face! who's happy? i know i am!  
**

**sorry it was short, but since i lacked with updating and reviews last time, i'll give out double teasers for all who review and never fear, chapter 7 is finished and sent off! so we should be back on schedule now :)**

**TTFN**


	7. Chapter 7

**Big thanks to Mollie & Lisa who edit this before you guys see it! My story would be just a bunch of words without them!**

**Thank you to content1 who validates my chapters on Twilighted! You rock chick!**

**Remember, for pics from each chapter (outfits & other things), pic teasers, and random updates/teasers, follow me on Twitter and add me on Facebook! Links in my Bio!**

**I own nothing.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my cat, Edward, he was the best cat anyone could have ever had, and I miss him every single day.**

* * *

I could have sworn that after Bella saw my face she wouldn't have ever wanted to speak to me again.

But the complete opposite happened.

We talked more than we ever had. If she was gone for the day, either out with her father or at work, as soon as she got home, she raced up the stairs, threw her bag into her room, and came racing to wherever I was to hang out.

If I was in the library, she knocked on the door and told me to come out. If I was in my room, she knocked on the door and yelled up the stairs, even though I told her time and time again she was more than welcome to just walk up.

She always made sure I ate. It didn't matter if it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it was always, "Did you eat yet?" So, I usually just waited for her. The first time my aunt walked into the kitchen when Bella and I were sitting at the island having lunch, she stopped for a couple seconds in shock before she continued without speaking a word. But when Bella had gotten up to get something from her room, Esme came over to me, kissed me on the cheek, and whispered how happy she was for me. I just shrugged it off but I couldn't contain my smile.

Since it had started to get nice, we spent most nights out on Bella's balcony.

We spent almost every evening together either watching a movie or just getting to know each other. She loved asking me random questions to get to know me "inside and out," as she liked to put it.

What was my favorite show as a kid?

What was my favorite cereal?

Did I like eggs?

If so, how did I like them?

One night we were out there and I was reading a book she had recommended to me. She was taking pictures of the night sky when she started.

She put her camera down and turned to me.

"What's your favorite cookie?"

I lifted my head up from the book and looked over at her. I gave a soft chuckle and answered her.

"Oatmeal raisin… You?"

"Chocolate chip." I raised my eyebrows in amusement and she rolled her eyes. "I know, so typical, but they are delicious."

I nodded my head with another chuckle and went back to my book. A couple minutes later she put her camera down again and asked another question.

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

I smirked.

"_Showgirls_."

Bella smiled back and we both spoke at the same time. "Absolutely frightening!"

She threw her head back and laughed.

"Yes! The _Scream_ movies are classics!"

We started to get into a conversation about other horror movies when she completely cut me off.

"What's your favorite color?"

I looked back and forth between her eyes and knew my answer right away.

"Brown," I replied with a small smile. "Yours?"

Bella looked at me for a second before she responded. "Green."

I scrunched my brows together in confusion when she looked down with a slight blush on her face before turning back to her camera.

* * *

The library was almost finished, and I couldn't wait to show Bella. All I needed to do was hang a few photos and clean up, then it would completely finished. I had hoped to have it completed by that night when Bella got home from work, but I needed to find more picture frames, so I headed down to the dining room and started looking through my aunt's cabinet.

I pulled out a couple pictures and frames along with some knickknacks my aunt had when I found the perfect frame. It had a picture in it, but I would just replace it. But when I picked it up to examine it, my heart nearly stopped.

I was staring into the eyes of my mother.

The picture had to have been taken right before she died because it was exactly how I remember her. Her beautiful red hair was past her shoulders and curly, and her smile was the brightest one I had ever seen. She stood there with Esme, and I had never noticed before how much they actually looked alike.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard my name. I looked up to see Esme walking into the room.

"Everything okay, dear?"

I nodded and looked back at the photo. "I was just looking for some picture frames and found this."

I handed her the picture and my aunt's mouth fell open.

"I've been looking for this everywhere!" she exclaimed. "It's my favorite one of us."

I watched as she studied the photo and her eyes became misty.

"She really was beautiful, wasn't she?"

"You two look a lot alike," I stated softly.

Esme let out a teary laugh and looked up at me. "Not as much as you two do. You're the spitting image of her."

We both stood there for a couple seconds looking at the photo before I got the sudden urge to show off the library.

"Is Uncle Carlisle here?"

She nodded, and I asked her to go get him and meet me upstairs outside of the library.

I raced upstairs and quickly gathered all my tools into one small pile. When I was finished, I went out into the hallway and began to pace. My excitement over showing them the library was quickly replaced by fear.

What if they didn't like it?

What if they thought it was terrible?

I chewed on my nails as my heart began to race. I was just about to go down and tell them never mind when I heard my uncle's voice.

"You're going to put a hole in my carpet with all that pacing."

Esme giggled and slapped his arm. They approached, and I wiped my suddenly clammy hands on my pants.

"Don't be so nervous!" Esme urged as she rubbed my arm. "I'm sure it's lovely."

I blew out a breath, gave one last nod, and opened the door. I motioned for them to go in before me, then followed them in. I heard my aunt gasp as she walked over to the furniture.

"I know it's not what you picked out, but when I went down to the shed to get a ladder, I saw this and thought it matched the paint. I hope you don't mind," I explained as Carlisle walked over to his wife and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I love it!" she cried out. "This furniture was my mother's; I always loved it, but when they passed, we already had Emmett and had just adopted Alice. As you can see, this isn't the kind of furniture you want around young children, so we put it in the shed and I completely forgot about it."

I opened my mouth to respond but stopped as my aunt let out another squeal and ran across the room, calling out my uncle's name.

"It's our wedding photo!"

"I know that a TV is supposed to go there," I explained as followed them over, "but a TV just didn't seem to fit in this room."

They both gushed over the photos, and I had to roll my eyes when my uncle pointed out the picture I had found that had me in it. It was from a summer I had come to visit. It was a picture of Alice, Emmett, Esme, and me. Esme was in the middle with Alice on her back, and Emmett and I were on either side of her, kissing her cheeks.

"This room looks amazing. Thank you, son," Carlisle said with a pat on my back.

I swallowed and nodded. I was so glad they liked it.

Carlisle and Esme continued to look around the room, and they both laughed when they saw the piano.

"I forgot we had this old thing!" she giggled as she ran her fingers over the keys.

"Yeah, I didn't even know it was there until I moved all the boxes out of the room."

"Do you still play?" Carlisle asked me as he walked up.

I shook my head. We all stood there in silence for a couple seconds before a thought came to my mind.

"Aunt Esme, I don't know if you remember, but my mom used to play me this song all the time, and for some reason, I can't seem to remember it… Do you have any idea how it goes?"

My aunt and uncle smiled at each other before Carlisle turned to me and said, "I think we can help you out with that."

* * *

I had lost count of how many times I watched the video. I barely even said goodbye to Esme and Carlisle when they left, I was so enthralled by it. Once it would end, I would just hit Play again. I couldn't get enough of my mother's voice. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard.

I smiled when I saw myself at the age of five. I was sitting on the piano seat next to my mother, swinging my legs back and forth as my fingers danced across the keys. After a couple seconds, I slammed my hands down on the keys in frustration and let out a groan.

"_Mommy, it's not working!" _I heard myself whine in the video.

My mother laughed her sweet, beautiful laugh and put her hand on my back.

"_You must practice, my love. It won't come right away."_

"_I don't want to practice anymore, Mommy."_

"_All right. How about we get some lunch?"_

"_Can you play my lullaby? Please, Mommy, please!" I begged as I bounced up and down on the bench._

My mother chuckled, looked at the camera, and shook her head before she leaned over and kissed my forehead.

"_Of course, love."_

I closed my eyes as the most amazing sound rang through the TV and flowed to my ears. My favorite part was just about to start when the sound turned off and the TV went black. My eyes snapped open in panic as I searched the screen.

I started to look around for the remote in a frenzy. I turned around to look behind me and saw Bella standing back up from the floor with the remote to my TV in her hand. She looked at me with her eyes wide and stood all the way up.

"I… I'm sorry. I knocked, but I guess you didn't hear me. I just wanted to make su—"

"What did you do?" I growled.

Bella looked down at the remote in her hand and then back up at me. "I didn't see it there, and I must have stepped on it…"

"What did you do?" I yelled, causing Bella to jump.

She opened her mouth but said nothing. I jumped up and walked over to her.

"Just leave!" I snarled as I yanked the remote out of her hand and walked back toward the TV.

I started to hit different buttons, but the TV stayed black. My anger continued to rise as my efforts to turn the TV back on failed. I turned back around and saw Bella still standing there.

"Didn't I tell you to leave?" She opened her mouth again but I cut her off. "I said leave!" I yelled right before I threw the remote at the wall.

Bella jumped when it crashed against the wall before she turned and ran down the steps. I turned back to the TV and began to play with the buttons that were on the front.

I had to get the video to work again. It was the only thing I had that had my mother's voice on it, and if I lost it, I wouldn't know what to do. After a couple seconds, the screen lit back up and my mother's voice filled my ears.

I let out a large sigh of relief and put my hand to my chest. The video wasn't lost; the input of the TV had just been changed when Bella stepped on the remote. When the adrenaline in my body began to recede, I finally realized what I had done.

I had to apologize to Bella right away. I stood up to make my way downstairs when I heard a door slam in the distance. I went to my window just in time to see Bella throw a bag into the back of her truck and run for the driver's seat.

I cursed to myself and ran downstairs. I yanked open the door and saw nothing but taillights.

"Bella!" I yelled out loudly, but I knew she couldn't hear me.

It must have started to rain while I watched the video of my mother, and I never even realized it. At that point it was thundering and lightning every other minute, and the rain was so bad I could barely see past the porch.

Bella really shouldn't be driving.

I grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket and tried to call her, but it just went straight to her voice mail. I cursed and tried again.

"Come on, love," I whispered to myself.

Voice mail again.

I was just about to dial her number again when I heard her scream. I didn't think twice about running into the rain and searching for her.

It was only about a half a mile up the driveway when I spotted her truck.

"Bella! What the hell are you doing? Do you see this weather? You shouldn't be…"

I stopped talking and walking when I could see clearly. Bella was leaning against the side of her truck, staring ahead in fear, because about five feet away from her was a wolf.

"Edward," she called out in a trembling voice.

"Shh! Don't speak or move. I'm going to walk over to you slowly. Just stay there and do as I say," I explained to her while I kept my eyes on the wolf.

Bella nodded and I started to make my way closer to her. I took each step carefully, and I braced my body for any sudden attack.

I stopped when the wolf growled but let out a breath of relief when it didn't move. After what seemed like forever, I finally made it over to Bella and stood directly in front of her.

I felt her hands immediately grab onto my triceps as I reached back and grabbed her by the waist. The wolf kept its eyes on us the entire time but still hadn't moved.

"Okay," I breathed out. "I want you to walk _very slowly_ toward the back of the truck, and whatever you do, _stay behind me_!"

I felt Bella nod against my shoulder.

"Let's go."

We started to move toward the back of truck, taking only one step at a time. When we got past the cab of the truck, the wolf snapped at us with a growl, which caused Bella to jump and let out a gasp.

"Edward, I'm scared," she whispered into my ear.

I swallowed and gripped her waist. "I know. It's going to be okay; I won't let anything happen to you."

We took another step, and that's when it happened.

The wolf lunged toward us, and I had just enough time to scream for Bella to run as I tried to shove the wolf back.

"Shit!" I yelled when I felt its claws dig into my left arm.

"Edward!"

The wolf got up quickly and lunged again.

I tried to shove it away again, but its jaw clamped down on my left arm. I roared out in pain, and due to the wet ground, I slipped and fell.

"Bella…run!" I yelled out as I tried to wrestle the wolf off of my arm.

The pain was excruciating, but my only concern was that Bella was safe.

I continued to try and get the wolf off of me. I punched and pulled at it with my right hand, but it wouldn't let up. It finally released me when something flew through the air and hit it on the head.

Another object flew and hit it again, causing the wolf to fall off of me and yelp in pain. I looked up and behind me to see Bella standing there with rocks in her hands. She threw her arm back and hit the animal again just as I stood up.

"Edward!"

I looked over just in time to see her throw a tire iron my way. I caught it with my right hand and moved back to the wolf. It had just started to get to his feet when I pulled back and hit it with my new weapon.

With another yelp, the wolf fell to the ground and didn't move. But I wasn't taking any chances. I hit it one more time before I dropped my weapon and ran toward Bella.

I picked her up, threw her over my shoulder, and used the remaining energy I had to run to the house.

The front door was still open since I had never closed it, so I kicked it shut with my foot, dropped Bella to the floor and leaned back against it.

When the realization that we were finally safe started to sink in, I let out a groan in between my huffs and sank to the floor. The adrenaline in my body started to dissipate which meant my arm started to really throb. I held onto it with my right hand and looked down.

My thermal shirt was completely torn to shreds, and all I could see was blood.

"Shit," I quietly cursed to myself as I closed my eyes and put my head back against the door.

"We should get you to the hospital," Bella breathed out.

I shook my head and cut her off when she tried to argue.

"I only have my bike, and your car is stuck up the road. We have no way there. Plus, I don't need to go to a hospital. I'll be fine."

My arm did hurt, but I refused to go to the hospital. I'd had my fill of doctors.

"Then we have to clean it up."

I opened my eyes to see Bella kneeling in front of me, looking down at my arm.

I shook my head.

"You don't want it to get infected. That was a wild animal," she explained.

I closed my eyes again but said nothing. I knew she was right, and my arm _was_ starting to really hurt.

"Here…" She started right before she put her left hand over my right, but then something weird happened.

As soon as her skin touched my own, it was like an electrical shock went through me. I had never felt anything like it before. My eyes opened and I looked down at our hands while Bella gasped and pulled away.

Was it possible she had felt it too?

I looked up at her just as she peered down at me from under her eyelashes. Her big brown eyes had never seemed more beautiful.

My eyes moved to her lips when her tongue came out to wet them right before she took her bottom lip in between her teeth.

It was the sexiest fucking thing I had ever seen.

I reached up, slowly, with my right hand and used my thumb to pull her lip free. Bella let out a sigh, and I could have sworn her eyes moved to my lips. But I didn't have time to think about it because a drop of water from her wet hair fell right on to the open wound on my arm, causing me to hiss out in pain.

"We need to get you cleaned up," she mumbled again.

I told her okay and started to stand, but since the floor and my shoes were wet, I slipped almost instantly and fell right back down. Bella moved forward, lifted my right arm to put it around her shoulders, wrapped her left arm around my waist, and helped me stand.

Once we were both standing, I tried to tell her I was fine, but she insisted on helping me all the way to the kitchen. She sat me down on one of the stools near the island and told me she would be right back.

While she was gone, I examined my arm. The pain was almost too much to bear, and looking at it wasn't any better. I knew even without cleaning it that I was going to need stitches.

I started to rip what was left of my thermal sleeve off of my left arm since it was ruined and it had to be out of the way for the wound to get cleaned. I was starting to get a little cold because my clothes were soaked from the rain, but there was no way I was taking my shirt off. Bella already had to put up with what my face looked like; she didn't have to see the scars and black vines on the rest of me.

"It'll probably be better if you just take your shirt off."

I looked up to see Bella walking back into the kitchen. She had taken her coat off and pulled her hair up into a messy bun that sat on top of her head. In her hands, she carried a bowl that looked to be filled with rags, bandages, and some kind antibiotic ointment.

"I'm fine," I told her as I continued to rip at the sleeve.

She let out a huff, slammed the bowl down onto the table, and said, "Just take off your damn shirt, Edward."

I was taken aback by her response, and it wasn't until she raised her eyebrow at me that I started to move again. I stood up and lifted my wet shirt over my head, letting out a few hisses as it passed over my wounded arm.

I threw the shirt on the ground and sat back down. When I looked up, I saw Bella staring at my chest with wide eyes. She eventually looked up at my face, and her cheeks turned crimson red.

She broke our gaze by grabbing the bowl that was now filled with water and walked it over to me. I clenched my jaw and cracked my neck.

I knew she was staring at my scars, and there wasn't anything I could do about it.

Just because she thought my face wasn't that bad didn't mean she wanted to see the whole package.

My anger started to rise, and to keep myself calm, I started to bounce my leg. I had anger toward Victoria for doing this to me but more toward myself for getting into the situation. If I hadn't been such an asshole, none of this would have happened to me, and I would be my normal self, living my normal life.

I heard Bella say something, but I was so out of it that her words didn't make sense to me. I continued to bounce my leg and clench my jaw as I pictured what the rest of my life would be like.

Constantly hiding in the shadows, never being able to spend my time with someone, always wondering what life would have been like if…

"Arghh!" I yelled out as a white-hot, searing pain shot through my arm.

I looked down at my arm then back up at Bella, who was looking at me with wide eyes and a towel in her hand.

"That hurt!"

Bella's face went hard. "If you would just hold still, like I _said_, it wouldn't hurt so much!"

My mouth fell open in shock. She had actually come back at me. Who the hell did she think she was?

I let out a growl and started to yell again.

"This is your fault! If you hadn't run away, this would have never happened!"

Yes, I know I sounded like a dick, but that shit really fucking hurt.

"Well, if you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away!"

Shit.

She had me there.

But I wasn't done.

"Where did you think you were going? It's a fucking _hurricane_ out there! Who in their right mind tries to drive in that?"

"I do!" she yelled back. "When some jerk screams at me, then throws a stupid remote at my head!"

"I was pissed!"

"You need to learn how to calm the hell down and control your temper!" She shot back.

I opened my mouth for another comeback but came up with nothing.

She had me again.

Fuck.

"Now hold still!" she said with her voice still raised as she grabbed my left arm closer to her. "This might hurt a little."

The last part was a whisper, and all the anger immediately melted away from my body. Bella pressed the towel to my wound and I groaned at the pain, but I was more prepared for it.

Bella hissed too but continued to dab lightly.

We both sat there in silence as she cleaned my wound for a minute or two before she finally spoke.

"Thank you."

My brows scrunched together in confusion while I stared at the top of her head.

She looked up at me from under her eyelashes and finished her thought. "For saving my life."

I looked back and forth across her face before I looked back down at my arm, let out a little cough, and mumbled, "You're welcome."

We continued to sit in silence as she treated my wound. It still hurt, but I was becoming more used to it.

When she started to wrap my arm in a bandage, I finally asked her where she learned to do that.

Bella let out a little chuckle and shrugged her shoulders.

"You don't grow up in Forks without learning how to properly clean up an animal bite or two." She finished wrapping my arm. "That should do it. I would still have Carlisle look at it when he gets home tomorrow, though, so he can give you a shot."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she started as she stood up from her stool. "They called my cell phone just as I got in earlier. They're going to stay in Seattle overnight because of the storm. They asked me to tell you since you weren't answering your phone."

I nodded.

Bella walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a glass. She filled it with water and brought it back over to me as she dug into her pants pocket.

"Here, take two of these. It should help with the pain."

I took the glass from her just a she produced two little pills from her pocket. She really had thought of everything. I took the pills from her and swallowed them down with my water.

I watched as she began to clean up the towels and bandages, and I started to worry. I wanted to spend more time with her, but I was pretty sure after the way I'd treated her, the last thing she'd want to do was spend time with me.

"So, I was wondering," she began as she wiped the island down. "Do you want to hang out? Watch a movie or something?"

My mouth fell open in shock, which caused Bella to shake her head.

"Never mind; you're probably in a lot of pain and want to get some rest…"

"No!" I said a little too loudly, cutting her off. "I'd love to watch a movie."

The cutest half-smile came to her face as she nodded and threw the dirty paper towel into the trash can.

We both planned to get changed then meet back down in the living room in ten minutes.

* * *

I was just pulling my beater on when my room went dark.

"What the…?" I said to myself as I walked over to the switch.

I flicked it up and down a couple times, but nothing happened. Then my room lit up from the lightning outside, followed by the loudest thunder I had ever heard. I went over to my window to see the wind whipping the trees around and the rain pouring down harder than I ever had before.

"Edward?"

I walked to the top of my stairs to see Bella standing at the bottom with a candle, but before I could say anything, my cell phone started to ring.

"Come on up," I called out to her as I ran to get my phone.

"Hello?"

"Edward!" My aunt's worried voice filled my ears. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Bella stepped into my room hesitantly, and I once again hated myself. I wanted her to feel comfortable being in my room and told her time and time again to just walk in, and the one time she actually had, I flipped out on her.

"Bella called and told us what happened! How's your arm? Are you in a lot of pain? Did you wash it?"

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help the small smile. I had someone who actually cared about my well-being and it felt nice.

"My arm's fine." I noticed Bella had stopped looking around my room and started to blush before she looked down at her feet. "Bella washed it for me, and now it's all wrapped up."

"I still want your uncle to take a look at it. We have to make sure it doesn't get infected. Carlisle!" I heard her call out as she pulled the phone away from her mouth. "Call down to the desk; tell them we're leaving right now!"

"No!" I shouted into the phone. "I don't want you two driving in this. Just stay where you are. I'll be fine."

Esme sighed on the other end.

"Sweetie, you're hurt. Bella said you'll probably need stitches. Your uncle needs to look at it!"

"And he will tomorrow when you guys get home. Right now it's too dangerous to be driving. It can wait for one night."

I laughed as I heard her mumble something about pigheaded men before she put my uncle on the phone. He asked me normal questions pertaining to my wound and told me to take the bandage off as soon as I woke up the next morning to let it breathe. He would look at it as soon as he got home. We were just about to get off the phone when my aunt got back on.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come home tonight? Are you in a lot of pain?"

I rolled my eyes again and chuckled. "I'm sure, and no, I'm not in a lot of pain. Bella gave me some pain medicine and it's working. She's a good nurse."

I looked over at Bella as I said the last part and smiled as she blushed.

I heard Esme sigh again. "It's bad here, too. Bella said you guys lost power?"

I nodded and looked out the window again. "Just a couple minutes ago."

"Well, there should be candles down in the dining room in my china cabinet, but make sure you blow them out before you go to sleep!"

I chuckled and assured her I would blow out the candles before I went to bed, which caused Bella to giggle. Esme kept me on the phone for five more minutes, telling me she would drive right here just to make sure I was okay. She finally relented when I promised to call her if the pain got too unbearable and as soon as I woke up the next morning.

I hung up the call with a shake of my head and a chuckle.

"I called her when I was getting changed; I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure I did everything I could to prevent an infection. I didn't mean for you to have to go through all that," Bella said softly.

I waved her off. "It's okay. Esme just worries too much."

"She really cares about you."

I smiled. "I guess she does. She's an amazing woman."

Bella nodded in agreement.

"She said there were candles down in the dining room so we can have some light. Want to go get some?"

She agreed and we both made our way down to the dining room. It suddenly occurred to me that our plan was to watch a movie, but with the power out, that was no longer an option. I didn't want to just go to bed; like always, I wanted to spend more time with her, but what could I say?

_Hey, I know the power is out, but do you want to hang out in the dark with me?_

That didn't sound creepy at all.

I had just grabbed candles from the cabinet drawer when Bella spoke.

"So, I guess our movie idea is a bust."

"Yeah, I guess."

Bella moved her already-lit candle to the one I had in my hand and put the flame to the wick. The candle caught instantly.

"We can still hang out if you want. We could play '20 Questions'!" she suggested with a giggle.

I laughed.

"That sounds great."

* * *

But we never got to the game. Once we had gone back up to my room, we lit a few candles and just got to talking.

We talked about anything and everything.

She told me about how her mother had left when she was a kid, married a man half her age, and only called a couple times a year.

I told her about how my father only cared about himself and brought me to the Cullens so he wouldn't have to deal with me anymore.

She told me about how her ex still tries to call her sometimes, but she never answers or responds to him.

I told her about how my ex never even bothered to make sure I was okay after I left.

She told me about how she is deathly afraid of snakes, and I told her about how I'm secretly scared of spiders.

She laughed really hard at that.

I admitted to her that I'd never learned how to do laundry until I moved in with the Cullens, and she told me how she thinks her father _still_ doesn't know how to do it.

With all the talking we had done, I expected her to finally ask what had happened to me and why I looked the way I looked. I wasn't sure what I was going to tell her if she did ask, but I knew it probably wasn't going to be the truth.

But she never did.

Bella never once brought up my scars or how I looked or showed any curiosity about how I got that way.

She was amazing.

When we'd started to talk, we had been sitting at the table I had in my room, but a couple hours later, we had somehow made it to my bed. At first, we were both sitting Indian-style facing each other, but we soon found ourselves leaning back against the pillows and headboard side by side.

We talked for hours, and when the power came back on, we barely noticed.

She told me about the scholarship she was offered at NYU for photography and how it's always been a dream of hers to take photos for a living.

Bella admitted to being scared about moving to a big city where she didn't know anybody but also said it was thrilling as well.

"Are you worried about your dad?"

She shrugged. "A little. But Charlie's strong; I know he'll be okay while I'm away. Plus, I would be back for holidays and summer vacations."

"So, what's stopping you, then?"

Bella shrugged again but kept her eyes forward.

I shook my head. "You just said it's been your life dream to do this, and you're having second thoughts? You got a scholarship! You have to go!"

Bella looked up at me with her brows scrunched together. "You want me to go?"

Her question made me stop.

If I was completely honest, no, I didn't want her to go. I loved having Bella around, and when she was, I forgot all about my fucked-up life. But I could never hold her back from bettering herself and going after her dreams. Plus, I wouldn't expect her to. Just because I had feelings for her did not mean she had feelings for me.

So I swallowed and nodded my head. "I want you to go. I think you should go and get everything you ever dreamed of. What's holding you back?"

Bella studied my face before she turned her head back to the front.

"I guess nothing…" she mumbled softly.

I ignored the ache in my heart and asked her what the deadline was for her decision.

She let out a breath and moved so that she was lying down more on the bed.

"Photography classes start a little later than regular classes, so if I decide I want to go, I have to be on a plane and headed to New York on September 10th."

My heart stopped when she mentioned the date.

Was it just a coincidence that the only girl I could see breaking this god-awful curse was leaving for another _state_ on the one-year deadline or was it some kind of sick poetic justice?

Neither one of us spoke after that. We both just lay there in my bed, listening to the rain outside. It wasn't long before I noticed that the sun had started to rise.

"The sun's coming up," I stated softly.

"Mm," Bella mumbled.

I continued to stare out the window. I felt Bella move beside me before she placed her head on my shoulder. I looked down at her as she closed her eyes.

"It feels like I've known you forever," she whispered.

My chest tightened. "Me too."

It didn't take long for her to start to fall asleep, and I had never felt more at peace in my entire life. I just watched her as she breathed in and out softly and her face twitched as she dozed off.

"Bella?" I whispered.

"Hmm?" she answered back.

I could tell she was barely awake.

"Can I keep you?"

She never answered. Instead she moved her head down, wrapped her arm around my waist, and snuggled against my chest.

It was in that moment I knew I had fallen in love with Bella Swan.

* * *

**i wonder how many of you caught the two disney quotes i put in here?! haha why dont you let me know with a review!**

**reviews=teasers we all know this :)**

**TTFN**


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't deserve any of you guys. you are all so awesome. thanks you.  
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**Big thanks to Mollie & Lisa who edit this before you guys see it! My story would be just a bunch of words without them!**

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**This chapter is dedicated to my cat, Edward, he was the best cat anyone could have ever had, and I miss him every single day.**

* * *

"No, it's not bleeding through…I'm not sure— he's still asleep."

I heard Bella's voice but I wasn't sure who she was talking to. I was just waking up and felt a little disoriented. I hadn't gotten much sleep but I could already tell I had gotten more than I had in months. I felt refreshed and comfortable.

"Okay, when he wakes up, I'll have him take it off…No, he doesn't have any kind of fever…okay…talk to you soon. Bye."

I opened my eyes to see Bella hitting the end button on her cell phone before she turned and looked at me.

"I'm sorry if I woke you," she apologized with a smile.

I told her she hadn't and started to sit up. I wanted to ask her who she was on the phone with but knew I didn't have the right, so I just kept my mouth shut.

"That was Carlisle," she stated as she sat back on the bed. "I called him when I woke up just to make sure there wasn't anything else I could do with your arm. I told him how it looked, and he said it sounded like there really wasn't anything to worry about. But he did say to take the bandage off to let it breathe until he comes home to look at it."

My chest tightened. Her first thought when she had woken up was concern for me. It only made me even more sure that I was in love with the girl who was sitting in front of me.

"Why don't you go take that off and I'll go make us some breakfast?" Bella suggested as she stood back up.

"You don't have work today?"

She shook her head. "No. When I looked at my phone this morning, I had a text from Mike's mom saying that there was some damage done to the store from the storm, so we are staying closed today."

I nodded and reminded myself to check the outside to make sure there wasn't any damage for my uncle. Bella gave me one last smile and made her way downstairs. I let out a breath and headed toward my bathroom to get myself ready for the day.

* * *

Bella and I sat at the kitchen island as I devoured the ham and cheese omelet she had made for breakfast. I listened as she giggled at me but just shrugged my shoulders.

"Are you even breathing?" Bella asked with another giggle.

"Don't judge me!" I said with a mouth full of food and a chuckle. I swallowed my food. "Where the hell did you learn to cook like this?"

She just shrugged and took a bite out of her eggs. "I just learned. My mom wasn't around and my dad was never much of a cook. He would eat out every night at the diner if I wasn't around. That was actually what we use to do when I was younger, but I got tired of it. So I taught myself how to cook."

A soft pain went through me because I knew what it was like to not have a mother. But my father always hired nannies so I didn't have to do anything myself, or more importantly, so he didn't have to.

But Bella didn't have that luxury. Her mother left and she had to take care of it all and never once complained about it. I had a feeling Bella rarely had things done for and/or given to her.

I took one last bite of my food and wiped my mouth with my napkin.

"Would you like to see what I've been working on upstairs?"

Bella's head snapped toward me with her eyes wide.

"Seriously?" she asked, in shock.

I swallowed and nodded.

Before I even knew what happened, Bella jumped up out of her seat and ran upstairs. I followed after her with a laugh.

By the time I made it upstairs, Bella was already standing in front of the closed door, bouncing back and forth on her feet.

"So I get to see the big secret in this room now?" Bella asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest from being so nervous, but I was also very anxious. I wanted to show Bella more than anything, so I took a deep breath and opened the door.

I motioned for Bella to go in and felt my heart stop. As Bella walked into the library, I heard her gasp and I wasn't quite sure if that was a good sign or not.

She continued to look around the room with her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open.

"You did all of this?"

I opened my mouth to reply but found that I couldn't speak, so I just nodded.

She continued to walk around the room and look all over the place.

Bella finally looked back at me with a huge smile on her face.

"Do you have any idea how _cool_ this is?"

The breath I didn't even know I had been holding blew out of my chest as I chuckled.

"Um, no," I responded as I rubbed the back of my neck.

Bella shook her head in amazement and continued to survey the room. I watched as she walked over to look at the pictures on the wall.

She giggled at a younger picture of Emmett and told me I had chosen the one picture Alice had told her parents to burn. I went to stand beside her and saw her eyes lock on the photo of me, Alice, and Emmett.

"That's their cousin, Masen," she stated with a point of her finger.

I just kept my mouth shut and nodded. It was obvious she had no idea I was the person she had talked to on New Year's Eve, and I wasn't about to tell her it was. The word "stalker" flashed over and over in my head.

"You know him?"

She was quiet for a couple seconds before she shook her head and moved to the next photo. Bella wasn't as talkative about me now that she had no alcohol in her, and part of me was grateful for it.

She continued to look at photos as she laughed and would tell me stories about her and my cousins when they were younger. It amazed me how much she knew about them, and how much time she had spent with them when I was around a lot more, but we had never met. It made me think about how my life would have been if I had met her back then.

"This is amazing, Edward. I bet Esme loves it."

I nodded. "She does, but I didn't do it for her."

Bella looked over at me with her brows together in confusion.

I shrugged my shoulders and gave a half smile. "I did it for you."

Her mouth fell open in shock. "You did this for _me_?"

I gave a nod and another shrug. When she continued to stare at me, I started to get scared. Maybe I had been too forward. I was almost about to take what I said back when she started to speak.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?"

"Um, where?"

She smiled. "It's a secret."

I just chuckled. I was about to say yes when I looked outside. It was the middle of the day, and it was pretty sunny out. You would have never guessed that we'd had a hurricane the night before. I never went out in the middle of the day because I didn't want people to see how I looked. Bella noticed my hesitation.

"It's nowhere public. In fact, I don't think anybody even knows it's there. I've never seen anyone."

Her words piqued my interest and I agreed to go. She told me to go get changed into something comfortable, and she would meet me in the hallway in ten minutes.

* * *

Ten minutes later, I walked down my bedroom steps and into the hallway just in time to see Bella walk out of her room. She was wearing a red flannel shirt with her camera hanging from her neck, a pair of black shorts, and black, checkered sneakers.

I swallowed when I saw her bare legs. They looked so smooth and silky. I suddenly had visions of them wrapped around me. I shook my head to get out of my thoughts when I heard her speak.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Bella's cheeks tinted before she asked me if I was ready to go. I let out a cough to clear my throat and nodded. I followed her out the door and into the woods. We talked about nothing in particular.

Well, she talked; I just listened. Ever since I had realized how I felt about her, I was afraid I would open my mouth and tell her by mistake. I didn't want that to happen because I was pretty sure she would run for the hills, and I didn't want to risk that. I was content with what we had and it worked for me.

"Do you always do that?" she asked me.

I looked at her confused as she motioned toward my head.

"You just put your hoodie up, and we're in the middle of the woods."

I hadn't even noticed that I had put my hood up.

"Habit, I guess," I mumbled with a shrug.

"What happens…When people see you? If you don't mind my asking."

"They don't," I stated, which caused Bella to look at me confusedly. "I've gotten pretty good at hiding from people and mostly stick to the shadows."

"So you've become like this creepy, stalker guy?"

I snapped my head toward her, afraid she knew I had been following her, only to see her looking at me with an amused grin.

"I'm kidding." I let out a breath of relief. "I would stick to the shadows if I could. I don't mind being alone. I guess I get that from my dad."

"It doesn't scare you, being alone?"

Bella shrugged. "There are a lot more things out there that are scarier than being alone. Besides, I'm not alone. You're here with me."

I smiled at her as she blushed and looked at the ground. We walked for a couple minutes in silence.

"Well," I started. "Fortunately for you, scary guy is right next to you."

Bella chuckled, shook her head and punched me in the arm.

"Come on. It's right up ahead."

I followed as she climbed up a small hill.

"The day my mom left, I was playing at the Cullens with Alice and Emmett," she explained as she tried not to fall as she climbed the hill. "My parents told me they were going out to dinner and would be back to pick me up later, but when it was time for me to be picked up, only my father was in the car."

She almost tripped on a branch, but I reached out just in time to grab her. She smiled and thanked me before she continued.

"When I asked where she was, he told me that she wouldn't be living with us anymore, but that she had loved me very much. I asked him where she was going to live, and he told me he didn't know." I listened to her story as I made sure she didn't trip. "I got so upset that I ran into the woods. I remember it felt like I was running forever, but in reality, it was only about ten minutes. I saw this hill and decided to climb up it because I thought I could hide up here so no one would find me. That was when I came across this place."

We finally reached the top of the hill and stopped. In front of us, there was a large opening. There were no trees, no weeds, and no shade. It was a beautiful meadow that had over a dozen different flowers growing out of the ground, and the entire opening was bathed in sunlight.

"Wow," I whispered.

"I sat here for hours that day before I finally went back. My dad was beside himself, and when he asked where I had gone because they had been searching for me, I told him I hid in some bushes. I come here all time when I want to just get away, be alone, or when something is bothering me. It's so peaceful here," she said as she looked around.

"I never told anyone about this place," she whispered.

I looked over at her in shock.

"It's amazing," I said as I stared back at the meadow.

"I know. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"

I looked over to see Bella staring at the meadow with a small smile on her face. The sun was hitting her just enough to make her seem like she was glowing.

"No, I haven't," I stated as I continued to look at her.

Bella lifted the camera she had around her neck to her face and snapped a picture of the meadow before she motioned with her head to me and moved forward.

We walked out to the middle, stopping every so often so she could take a picture of a random flower, before she sat down. I followed suit and just watched her.

She must have snapped hundreds of pictures of just random things, but she looked so at peace doing it.

"Look, there's a deer," she whispered to me.

I lifted my head just in time to see a deer emerge from the woods. The right side of my lips came up in a tiny grin, and a second later I heard the click of Bella's camera. I turned my head, assuming she had taken a picture of the deer, but when I looked at her, she was facing me and moving the camera away from her face.

"Sorry. The look on your face was just so…" She trailed off. "I can delete it if you want."

I looked down at my lap. "Why would you want a picture of this?"

Bella's eyes scrunched together in confusion. "Why wouldn't I?"

I looked back and forth between her eyes before I chuckled and shook my head. She blushed, like she always did, and looked away.

I asked her if I could see her camera, and she took it off of her neck and gave it to me without question. I lifted the camera to my face and pointed it toward her. She put her hands up and shook her head.

"No way. I take pictures. I'm not in them."

"Well, maybe I want one for myself," I said before I could think.

Bella looked at me from over her hands and smiled. "On one condition." I shrugged and motioned for her to continue. "Be in the picture with me."

I stopped and Bella raised her eyebrows. Before I could remember that I didn't want to have a picture with her with the way that I looked, I nodded and handed her the camera.

The smile on her face was the biggest I had ever seen, and I couldn't help but smile back. She grabbed the camera from me, stood up, and took ahold of my hand as she pulled me up with her. She dragged me over to a rock that was a couple feet away from us.

Bella sat the camera down on the rock, messed around with the timer before running back to me and pulling me down to the ground.

She giggled as I slipped and landed hard.

"We have fifteen seconds, then the flash will go off!"

I nodded and sat up a little straighter. Bella moved closer to me and I felt my blood begin to race. When the left side of her body touched my right, I made the decision to put my arm around her shoulders. I heard her gasp and was about to take my arm away when I felt her hand reach up and touch the one hanging off her shoulder.

I watched as she looked down at our hands before she turned to look at me. Our faces were inches apart and I wanted nothing more than to lean down and kiss her, but I held myself back. I just stared into her eyes, hoping that she understood how I felt without my having to say it. In a moment of insanity, it felt like my wish had come true and she was looking at me the same way.

We were lost in our own little world so much that we didn't even pay attention to the click of the camera.

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